Research mission
by charab
Summary: Little did they know what would happen when one puts two male shinobi under the same roof for a month. Rated M for language...and a bit something else.
1. Day 1

AN: A snippet which started to evolve into a story right after writing the Balance. Let's see what will happen with it, reviews and suggestions are always welcome for the plot to evolve. Not aiming to write a chapter for each day, but we'll see. Enjoy enjoy!

Disclaimer: I'm not Kishimoto. Therefore these characters are not mine. And water is wet.

_Day 1: Worlds colliding...again._

As the morning came the people in the Hidden Village of Konoha started their daily routines as usual. Some were getting ready for their early missions, kissing their loved ones before taking off, some were practicing their Vigorous Springtime Of Youth by running 30,000 laps around the village by using only three fingers from both hands, some were nursing the mother of hangovers with a plethora of dango...

..and some were being rudely interrupted by ANBU while enjoying their sinfully soothing morning tea (while wearing nothing else than their boxer briefs) before setting off to deal with a hoard of pre-adolescent troublemakers who knew twenty ways to kill an opponent by using their pen starting with their left index finger but still not having the damnest clue on how to spell _'bunshin no jutsu'._

One more snort from the ANBU on the right and he'd experience the 'Pen Penalty n:o 21'.

They told him to wait before Shizune-san would call for him. Nursing his already chilled tea he sat down on the small couch in the corridor and gave a long, silent sigh. Kami knew what Godaime had in store for him when it was only six thirty a.m. With any luck she'd be either drunk as skunk, sinking in the aftermath of being drunk as skunk and being overly emotional, _again_, or having one hell of a hangover and, being the inventive sadist she _then _was, inclined to inflict collateral damage on one of her favorite desk chuunins. Which just happened to be him. Again.

Being in close work relations with the Hokages had its downsides apparently.

"Maa, Iruka-sensei? They called you out here as well? What did you do, set Ebisu on fire...again?"

Hangover it was then.

"Morning, Kakashi-san." Iruka said with much less smiling than the copy-nin was used to. The silver-haired ninja cocked his head to the side to give a better look at the slightly rumpled-looking sensei. Iruka looked well-rested, granted, and had his hair up as usual, granted, and was glaring at his seemingly very cold tea at the moment-

_Ah_.

"May I wonder what happened to the 'good' part in your morning, sensei?" Not that anybody ever needed to know, Kakashi had already second thoughts about asking the now even more so annoyed teacher the said question, which now hung heavily above them. Outsiders may not have noticed anything going on with the seemingly innocent question, but these two knew better. Ever since Naruto left to train with Jiraya-sama, the two men had become well acquainted despite their rather...colorful encounters. Violent and volatile would hit closer, though. They had settled their arguments on the chuunin exams ages ago but that didn't lessen their enthusiasm to grate on each others nerves. It actually became the main ingredient in their communication. It amused Kakashi to no end to discover what kind of man Iruka was under all the hyping his blonde student made sure to give every time anyone mentioned the brown-haired chuunin. The said chuunin, who was merrily crackling his china in his tightening grip as we speak, turned out to be a rather compatible opponent when it came to tongue lashing and impressively inventive when it came down to makeshift weapons. After getting pinned to the wall with exactly twenty pens in exactly twenty seconds from exactly twenty feet counted from the teacher's desk ('Pen Penalty n:o 43'), Kakashi knew he found the nerve he was looking for.

And he did his best to hit that nerve.

"ANBU", came the growled response as the faint sound of wailing porcelain filled in the blanks.

"..Ah. Well, you do know there's a water boiler down the corridor, don't you? Unless this is some new blend you're trying now?"

All the time.

The dark look on the tea-deprived teacher's face would have made even Zabuza consider turning into philanthropist, but then again Iruka knew the man next to him lacked in all fields of normal social communication, or being just plain ignorant when the bastard chose to. Nothing a decent kick in the head couldn't remedy.

".._No_, Kakashi-san, I didn't, and it's not", it wasn't Iruka's intention to accuse the other man for his shitty morning, but if the one-eyed nuisance offered his ass to be handed back to him, he wasn't against the fun. He still had his own ass hurting from their previous session. Now he was presented with two options, though. He could either go and get his fix of morning tea before turning berserk at Tsunade-sama, who apparently took her sweet time before calling them in, or indeed turn berserk, not against their Hokage but the sorry-for-being-genius-asshole who was acting far too chipper for his liking. Way too chipper in fact. Too chipper for Kakashi at now six fifty-five in the morning-

_...Ooohhhh_.

Kakashi didn't like what he saw on the other man's face. That look was a prelude for something very uncomfortable for him, and he knew that the teacher knew that he had a reason to fear that look now. That look was the bane of every student, subordinate, colleague and enemy nin ever getting a glimpse of it.

The look of _'I just realized you're missing something'_.

He really should have slammed his fist in the ANBU's face as his first thought was for that morning.

"They took your porn, didn't they?" Iruka couldn't help the wide grin spreading on his face. The indignant blush on the uncovered cheek made his morning. Elite jounin his chuunin ass, everybody knew how to get the lazy man to move even an inch against his will in the morning. After Iruka had snuck into the man's house a couple of months ago and locked the prized book collection into a rather plain coffin with no seams, no lock, no key and with a good jutsu on it and then left a note that it was good to exercise Kakashi's deduction abilities once in a while, all the shinobis present in the village at that moment had the privilege to witness a phenomena later labeled as _'Lightningwave'_. Some of the buildings still had scorch marks on their walls on the spots where the rather homicidal jounin set his foot on his mission to find and kill the fucker who had just made his merry way into copy-nin's own personal bingo book. By the time he found the culprit he had already calmed down, but that didn't last long after they found out just how good ammo against Kakashi the sneaky sensei had actually provided for the whole village. Which others were more than happy to apply whenever the situation called for it. Apparently this was one of those. Again.

"They'll be dead by noon. I'll get you some tea, sensei."

q

"Kakashi-san, Iruka-san, Tsunade-sama would like to see you now",Shizune-san said as she peeked behind the big doors to see what she feared was chaos and havoc. She had heard about these two men from other shinobi during the time she gathered their information for Tsunade in order to give the new Hokage all the intel needed on her shinobi when she started. As the time went by, the escapades where the names of these two were present hit frequently her radar and for the first time in years when working with Tsunade she really doubted the sanity of her friend and leader. They would soon have two corpses in their hands if Hokage-sama really was having her way with these shinobis.

What she actually saw made her doubt her doubts, though. The said men, both not so happily called from their homes, were sitting side by side on the couch and chatting in a manner that suspiciously sounded...friendly. And that wasn't the only thing that caught her attention. Surprisingly enough Iruka had a new simmering tea cup in his hands as Kakashi flipped nonchalantly the pages of something that looked almost like a..._nude calendar_? The men glanced up from their conversation and stood up, Iruka sipping down the last drops of his drink and Kakashi handing the small calendar back to the teacher. Shizune felt her jaw drop. That was _Iruka's_calendar?

"You'll thank me later, Shizune-san", Iruka grinned as the men walked past the stunned woman into their Hokage's office. After the _Icha Icha Confined!_ incident it became a habit of his to carry around the seen small calendar to soothe the older shinobi, especially in cases when it wasn't Iruka who had picked on the man's porn. He liked his head enough to keep it intact. Not that he ever had the calendar when working in school, he had standards. Plus Kakashi knew where he kept it in case of emergencies such as the current one they had in their hands. Again.

The men stepped to their Hokage's table and shared a rather puzzled, brief glance.

Tsunade was...smiling.

Hell, she was _radiating_. "Good morning to you two. Iruka-sensei. Brat."

"Morning, Hokage-sama", Iruka smiled as Kakashi chose to rely on a small grunt. A grunt that turned into a low growl as the man spotted that damned little coffin next to Tsunade's desk. As if sensing what Kakashi was thinking, Iruka stepped a little bit more away from the disgruntled man. There was no way in hell he would step between an Icha Icha deprived pervert and the keeper of the man's collection, Hokage or not. She had ANBU for that kind of heroism. Iruka decided to have a word with Tsunade after their meeting. As fun as it was to observe the man losing it every time someone even _pointed _with a box towards his books, they might soon have a mental breakdown in their hands if she didn't stop messing with the man's porn. He wasn't too keen to witness how many lightning bolts Hokage's building could take.

"I'd like to see you try that, brat", their leader said as she glared expectantly at the copy-nin over her desk, snapping both of the men in front of her back to attention. "Moreover, I have a mission for you two." The confused silence that followed her announcement was not expected, though.

"...Us, Hokage-sama? Wouldn't it be wiser to have another jounin with Kakashi-san? Our skill levels are too different to benefit anyone, plus I still need to go to work today since..I..um.." the practiced complaint died in Iruka's throat as they watched the grin on Tsunade's face grow with each passing syllable. This occurrence was new for both of them and they didn't know what to make of it. By now Kakashi would have agreed with the tanned teacher, their missions have always been way too different to even compare plus their skills were indeed nowhere near par. Not that they haven't worked on that factor the last months-

Wait.

Suddenly the situation made sense for both of them and as they looked at each other they knew the other had got the same thought now running loose in their minds.

_Busted._

"I see you both caught on what I mean. Good. Saves me the trouble then", Tsunade chuckled as she tossed a scroll for both men and took a better seat in her chair. "This mission is very different from the average rating. Not that I doubt either of you to accomplish it well."

"What does the mission has to do with us, Hokage-sama?" Iruka had to ask before opening the scroll, not that Kakashi had any qualms with that since the nosy man seemed to have read through the first three paragraphs already.

"Research", the amber eyes glinted with delight.

"More like guinea pigs if you ask me..." Kakashi muttered behind the scroll. Now Iruka _had to_find out where he was getting into. Tsunade observed with growing amusement as her two favorite subordinates read their assignment, shook their heads and read it again before exchanging more or less disbelieving looks, with more or less blushing cheeks.

"..You..you want us to move in together?" Iruka couldn't believe this. Surely the Hokage knew about their encounters? They'd kill each other within the first day!

"If that's the only concern then I'm more than pleased with your reaction, Iruka-kun", their leader purred with a grin bigger than Cheshire cat's. The following combustion of the tanned cheeks reached new records in Kakashi's scale. Plum seemed to suit the tan features quite well apparently.

"Why us?" Kakashi didn't find it hard to live under the same roof like Iruka did, but concerning the rest of their assignment...well, that was a whole new different matter.

"You figured it out yourselves already, brat." Godaime took a sip of her drink. "I've been given information on you two seen daily on the training grounds two times a week, sometimes even four times a week if given a chance. This has continued for some time, am I correct?" The men nodded their confirmation. "And you reduce the use of your chakra when you spar, correct?" Again a slightly more wary nod. "Well there you have it. Only this time you would be training everyday for a month and interacting between yourselves only, as I would be the one controlling the levels of your chakra reserves. As it's written on your scrolls, the whole point for this mission is research. I bumped into interesting information about developing different fighting skills when shinobi trains without their chakra. Since you two have already started with it I figured it would be beneficial for the whole village's training program if this small mission would actually produce any significant results." At that point she waved at Kakashi who was already pondering what she was missing. "I know about Gai and Lee and believe me, those two are being studied as well, but they have a different starting point since they've been without certain skills their whole shinobi careers as you two on the other hand are both fully capable shinobi who also represent different ranks. In that case even if brat would get bored to death this method might be highly valuable to Iruka-kun."

She never thought it possible to get a synchronized eye-roll from these two.

"In any case, the instructions for your tasks are in the scrolls, you'll get escorted to the house by ANBU and I'll visit you every three days to check on your scores and manipulate your chakras. Any questions?" As she reclined in her seat, Tsunade gave a brief look at both of them. They would both benefit her research, especially Iruka since the man has really taken far too few missions in Sandaime's time, and even though Kakashi was already superior both in physiology and stamina, the Godaime had a feeling the tanned sensei has found ways of getting on the same level with the village's genius. There was simply no other explanation for the two men to train so eagerly every week, especially for Kakashi who already had Gai of all people to keep him busy outside missions.

"When do we leave, Tsunade-sama?" Iruka had a sinking feeling he would be indebted to Shikamaru until his early grave. That boy would grow to hate him.

"The moment you get your bags packed and shifts worked out, sensei", came the happy response.

Apparently Shikamaru wouldn't be the only lucky one.

q

"So."

"So."

"That does look like a nice house."

"As in _'Nobody hears your screams_', eh?"[1]

"_Kakashi-san!_"

"Maa, joking, joking. But you've got to admit, it's _her _we're talking about."

"True, but I hardly think Tsunade-sama would sabotage her own research, Kakashi-san."

The flat look on the lone eye was more than enough for an argument.

Even the ANBU next to them seemed to agree with the older man.

Iruka could feel his ears heat up when facing the tough audience for his hypothesis. "...Much at least?" Oh who was he kidding, that lady would have used them as gambling chips long time ago if it were legal!

The ANBU gave a thorough check of the house before nodding their goodbyes at Kakashi and vanishing out of sight. As they entered the house, Iruka wondered for a brief moment if the older shinobi would teach him that trick. He would be one step closer then at driving his class up the walls. Not to mention the troublemakers in the mission room. Speaking of which...

"It seems we have to share the bedroom, sensei."

Iruka glanced up at the rather blunt statement when taking off his shoes. He took both his own bag and the bag they got from Tsunade with him and stepped further down the corridor where he heard the other man hustle in one of the rooms. There were only three doors in the corridor and in the end a rather large open space kitchen with necessary items for cooking. Iruka gave the kitchen a brief look before stepping in to the room closest to the kitchen and he saw Kakashi making his bed already in one corner of the said bedroom. He noticed the futon presumably meant for him still rolled on the other side of Kakashi's, with some linen folded next to it. With a small huff, the teacher let his bags hit the floor with small thumps before starting to make his own bed on the opposite side of Kakashi's spot.

The sudden tense silence was unnerving for both of them. When finished, Kakashi plopped down on his bed and observed as Iruka did his best to concentrate on folding his sheets in immaculate manner rather than sharing any thoughts on the fact that they, the infamous pair of walking destruction, were going to share every aspect of their living for one month. Kakashi felt he had to take the teacher's mind elsewhere, that pillow was mere hair spread away from getting incinerated under the dark glare set upon it.

"I mean really, we've both been on missions where one needs to sleep close to other teammates. It isn't that bad, right? At least she gave us separate beds this time." At that Iruka's ears perked to give their attention at the man sitting on his mattress.

"What do you mean '_this time'_?"

"Asuma and _way_ too much body hair. Don't ask."

With that sentence and the howling laughter following it the uneasy tension that had secretly built up between them vanished with no trace.

q

After Iruka had finished making his bed and unpacking his bag, not to mention rolling his eyes at Kakashi's thin travel-sized Icha Ichas with folded centerfold pictures of each position described in the texts (the paperback versions were ridiculous enough!), the men decided to explore their new accommodation for the coming month before starting with the official part of their unusual mission.

The two doors next to their bedroom were the toilet and the bathroom. It had two shower stalls with thin stained glass wall between them, for which Kakashi was grateful to Tsunade. The porn tragedies aside, she was also a Hokage who respected hes shinobis' quirks and secrets and did her best to make them enjoy their job. Kakashi made a mental note to thank her for that when he'd see her again. While the older ninja mused on the small gestures from their leader, Iruka had already spotted a cabinet holding their towels, bathrobes and bathing supplies, not to mention a rather sizable first-aid kit accompanied with a jar full of painkillers with Iruka's name on it and a thin shower mask with Kakashi's initials. She knew her shinobis, alright.

Their next investigations left the kitchen cupboards raided of coffee and tea that were put on the counter right next to the coffee maker and water boiler which were also promptly put to use the second they found the wall socket for them. From the kitchen was an entry to the small garden behind the house with a high fence wall surrounding the area as well the whole house, creating a modest gate at the front. The men noted that nobody had the chance to see into the house from the street-level.

Nor to the outside from the house.

"That's rather..efficient" Iruka had to admit, he was curious to find out whom this house belonged to before them or was it really built for their mission. "Not that it would stop anyone entering here. At least anyone smart enough to just jump over it." Iruka took a sip of his tea and turned to look at the pensive Kakashi next to him. It seemed the man had spotted something.

"You have a point there, sensei. Unless.." Kakashi fingered his coffee mug in deep thoughts as he strolled across the lawn to get a closer look on what he suspected was a seal on the fence. He knew he had it nailed the moment he spotted the faint trace of chakra on the fence. That meant they had sealed themselves in the house the moment the ANBU had closed the gate behind them.

No one would hear their screams, indeed.

"It feels like Tsunade-sama's chakra. I wonder how it would react to ours" Iruka muttered suddenly behind Kakashi's shoulder, the man had somehow managed to sneak up on him while he pondered on their options. Kakashi felt his neck prickle on the sudden intrusion of his personal space but decided to concentrate on the man's words. He touched the fence with his fingers and felt the chakra hum around them.

"It feels like it's accepting mine, so it wouldn't be a problem for us to leave here if the situation called for it. She really is something, that woman" Kakashi chuckled and gave a wink over his shoulder, getting a similar chuckle as the response.

"Well she wouldn't be our Hokage if she wasn't, Kakashi-san" Iruka replied as he turned to walk back to the house. They still had the most important room of the house unexplored, and frankly he was getting anxious of starting their task. He felt the silver-haired man follow him when he stepped back on to the small terrace with two sliding doors leading to the space which was the whole purpose of their mission. He pulled the doors open and gave a once-over on the sight greeting them as they stood on the threshold. The training space was ascetic and consisted of the tatami matted floor and the walls surrounding them, one of them having two pairs of sliding doors. Iruka pulled the doors open and they found both their bedroom and bathroom behind them. Not only was she considerate, she was also practical. Iruka turned to give a wide grin at his current mission partner, who seemed to catch on his next thought.

"Well, should we start the mission then, Kakashi-san?"

q

Iruka opened the bag Tsunade had given to them before sending them out of her office and pulled out a notebook containing their instructions for their chakra use. While the teacher sat to read, Kakashi took time to examine the vials and syringes held in a small box found from the bag. He took it to the counter next to the fridge and as he came back Iruka was already waiting him with two pieces of paper in his hands.

"You may want to read the text as well before we do the seals, just to check if I had it right" Iruka said as he offered the book to Kakashi who read it through while Iruka held the papers in his hand. The copy-nin nodded and tossed the book aside, then he took one of the papers and gave it a brief scan with his sharingan.

"You had it right, sensei. These do resemble the ones we make when we spar. How she ever found them out is beyond me, but at least it's easier for us to do them and also to trust that they work. Do you want to do me first?" The mischievous grin on the tanned face wasn't the answer he was after, though.

"Are you sure you don't want to cuddle first and see where that leads?" Iruka knew he was being a prick here, really, but a good shinobi never disregarded an opening when they saw it and they were acting a bit too professional for his taste at that moment. Plus the look on that lone eye was worth it. Although the moment the gray eye turned from sheer shock to shocking leer he knew he may just pay for his loose tongue.

"Maa, I didn't take you for a cuddling type" the older man all but purred as he took a few steps towards the teacher who was now growing slightly nervous on the sudden twist of events. "But I'm not entirely against the new lessons you could teach me if you..insist, _sensei_." Aaaand there was the plum tone again. He was getting good at making the tan man blush. Iruka stuttered and gave him the fiercest glare one can muster when glowing as a red beacon. Then he all but slammed the needed hand seals together, crushed the paper in between his hands to imprint the needed sign on it and lastly whammed the seal against the surprised Kakashi's chest, feeling it embed itself into the man's system under his hand. Then he snatched the second paper the other was still holding and repeated the process on himself save the whamming part. After the seals felt being activated they examined the glowing spots in their chests for a while before they settled on faint gray blue hue. Kakashi raised a wondering eyebrow as the glow faded away and they felt the heaviness of their bodies catch their consciousness without their chakra.

"That little, huh. This'll be interesting, neh?"

Iruka gave a pensive nod. He'd never tried fighting the other man with this little amount of chakra, truth to be told the experience was new for them both. Did Tsunade really think they were that good opponents for each other? He didn't doubt that he wouldn't manage to give Kakashi some hard time, he had already surprised the man a few times during their past training sessions, but to actually offer some good workout to a man who was above him on almost every level there was concerning battle situations, that was a whole new matter he didn't feel like achieving easily.

"Don't look so insecure, sensei. I wouldn't have spent my time on you if I didn't enjoy our sessions, you know. After all, I have Gai to vent my excessive energy on." The low voice snapped Iruka out of his musings and he was greeted with a smiling lone eye. He felt the sheepish smile creep on his face and felt an urge to scratch the scar on his nose. He'd been caught. Kakashi hummed and turned to pick up his sparring gear, giving the teacher time to compose himself again. Iruka was grateful for the small gesture. A total dickhead and wisecrack aside, Hatake knew when to say the right things. And when to keep that loud mouth to himself.

They changed their clothes in the bedroom in comfortable silence, both keeping their eyes to themselves. Iruka knew it wouldn't do to sneak any peeks at Kakashi's face, and frankly he didn't give a flying fuck what the older man looked like. It wasn't any of his business if the other had over-sized plushy lips or buck teeth under that black mask, as the blond mayhem described once with so great enthusiasm and level of concentration Iruka had to wonder where that had been all those years he had the boy in his class. He looked at the shadows they created against the wooden wall, his own with a pointy bush on top of his head and Kakashi's with unruly mess of hair _'Or maybe even fur if you pushed your imagination a bit further' _shaking as the man in question pulled up his sweatpants. Indeed. Just a man. Would Iruka be able to actually beat the man Kakashi would be without his chakra, moreover his sharingan?

"Are you doing okay there, Iruka-sensei?"

Iruka blinked and realized that he'd been staring the older man's shadow for a good while. He could feel the heat rising to his cheeks as he rapidly pulled up his slacks and tied them on his waist before risking a glance at the presumably smirking, annoying jounin's face. He wasn't disappointed.

"I can see the gears turning quite a bit in that head of yours. Saw something interesting to cause that?", Kakashi had his eyebrow raised and Iruka could _see _the wide, lop-sided smirk stretch the fabric of the mask.

"Oh take a hike you bastard, your ego is the last thing to need any more boosting."

"How cruel, Iruka-sensei. What makes you think I wouldn't be suffering from a childhood trauma resulting in weak self-esteem?" Iruka could _hear _the amusement dripping on each word from that irritating mouth. Never before meeting Hatake had he wished so much to find a scroll with a muting jutsu in it. Then again, it wouldn't be the same without that snippy commenting grating on his nerves all the time. He gave a long sigh and rolled his eyes.

"The moment you have low self-esteem is when Orochimaru acquires people skills and Ino decides that she'd look good bald. Come on, we have only one month. Might as well really use it like Hokage-sama meant it", the teacher snapped and walked briskly back to the training room as Kakashi made his contribution by nodding lazily and dragging his feet for extra effort as he meandered behind the sizzling sensei. _Wonder what's up with his system now..did the ANBU take a piss in his tea as well?_ Kakashi glanced at the dark-skinned man wearing his familiar black slacks and black tank top, the fabric pulling over taut muscles as Iruka lifted his hands to tie his hair up more properly, the teacher seemingly lost in thoughts. _I wonder how in hell he's still allowed to be around children with that temper...or that foul mouth. And then he accuses me of being bad influence...that hypocrite.._

Nevertheless, Kakashi was actually quite happy with the sparring routine the two of them had established over the couple of months before this silly research mission. Iruka never held back, which meant that Kakashi wasn't allowed to take it all easy either. That and the man in question was indeed a very, very capable chuunin, as far as the last match counted. The usually gentle sensei could really deliver some mean kicks, not to mention the ever present perfect timing in everything. A small chuckle at the mental image of Iruka training with alarm clocks around him escaped Kakahi's masked lips before he could prevent it, gaining the attention of the target of his musings from the stretches the brown-haired man was performing after he'd set the found alarm in twenty minutes. The teacher raised a wondering eyebrow at his chuckling counterpart, as if measuring if the jounin had lost it for real this time and he should run for it.

"What?", he asked warily as he stood back up and looked over the older man. Kakashi's eyes turned into happy crescents and he chuckled some more. Well, that was new.

"Just wondering which road of life to pick this time so that I could give you back what you gave to me the last time we matched, sensei." Kakashi answered with far too pleased voice. Iruka was already on the edge considering he'd be spending a month with a man he got along with usually for only five minutes before unleashing things not suitable for minors nor adults and secondly he was away from the academy and kami knew what destruction awaited him there when he got back. Unless he got beaten to a bloody pulp by Kakashi before that. Either way, he still wasn't all happy with the current arrangements.

"Are you done then?" he asked and gave the happy jounin a once-over with his dark, now calculating eyes. It never ceased to amaze Kakashi how those eyes could turn 180 degrees in mere seconds. Kakashi nodded, wondering what the tricky teacher was planning. Iruka flashed him a bright, sharp smile. "Well good."

The next thing Kakashi knew was that the second the warm breath of the other man ghosted against his ear his hands reacted on reflex, blocking the first kick aimed for his torso. He stepped a few feet back and dodged down from the second kick, going for Iruka's other leg with his own low spin kick. The teacher regained his momentum on time and hopped up away from the imposing limb, only to receive a full blow on his back that sent him flying in the air and landing on his bare feet some feet away from his opponent. He spun around just in time to block the second attack from the pale man as the older shinobi aimed for his chest for taking the air out of his lungs. Iruka grabbed the strong arms and twisted them crossing over each other, holding the pulling and resisting arms in his infamous iron grip known by every student (and fellow shinobi on very, _very_ trying days) that were unfortunate enough to get acquainted with it. The men observed each other over their struggling hands, two dark brown orbs against one cold gray.

The small, passing glint in the narrowed gray eye was all the warning Iruka got.

Kakashi pulled a bit back, not paying any attention on his awkward position, and gave a nasty kick to Iruka's side. Then to his other side. Iruka growled low in his throat, knowing exactly where things would lead if he'd let go of the now even more struggling pale arms. Iruka's own legs tried to block the kicks but some of them made still contact with his already bruising skin since he didn't have the same range as Kakashi did as he had to keep his balance point low in order to keep his hold on the other man. Kakashi continued his merciless kicks at the teacher's sides, his narrow eye following constantly the small winces twisting the tanned face. He knew Iruka was stubborn as hell sometimes and would hold his ground even if it was killing him (quite literally also, if the rumors he heard about Mizuki's attack on Naruto years back were anything to go by). To his surprise though he suddenly felt being pulled forward with a strength he'd only seen glimpses occasionally and with his other leg still in the air for the kick he lost his balance and couldn't prevent falling for the pull. The second his mind caught with Iruka's plot the teacher had already twisted their arms apart on their sides and was aiming a cruel knee at Kakashi's diaphragm as he pulled the older man down to meet it. He felt the air leave him as the contact was made, not once but twice, before Iruka let go of his arms and pushed him up with his own hands before marking the pale body with a series of accurate punches. The last blow sent Kakashi sliding down on the floor and he was heaving for breath as his body stilled on the wooden boards. Iruka stood still, panting heavily and holding his sides in agony. He felt his legs tremble slightly and small dots appeared in his vision, but he knew they were far from finishing. That was only the warm-up for the arrogant jounin.

"You know, you could have considered taking some acting lessons while in ANBU.", Iruka said in between his pants as amusement pulled his lips into a small grin. _Honestly, jounin and their sense of drama..._

As if on cue Kakashi stopped heaving and stilled for a moment. Then the silver-haired head lifted up from the floor with sheepish grin. "Didn't fool you for a second, eh?"

"With all the faked asthma acts I've witnessed over the years from my students I'd say your performance really isn't fooling anyone." _At least I hope nobody's ever fell for that. Can't be too sure about Naruto though..._

"And here I thought I'd awaken the caring sensei who'd nurse me back to my feet..." Kakashi grinned wider, not that Iruka saw the difference due to the mask, as he slowly rose back to his feet, the cold gray eye glinting with excitement and playfulness many would never witness. "You know, kissing it all better and so forth.."

Iruka snorted with wry smirk forming on his face. "In your dreams, pervert." Then he winced as the throbbing pain once subsided came back with reinforcements. It seems his ribs had taken a decent shock as well. Kakashi looked at him with concern from his side of the training room.

"Did I go too far with the kicks?", he asked with small amount of worry in his voice. It wouldn't do to hurt Iruka too much when it was only for warming up, apparently they still needed to work on their strength balance for the sensei to be able to enjoy these sessions fully as well.

"No, you were just very accurate with them. Just give a moment." Iruka took a slow breath in and held it for a few seconds before exhaling. "Alright, nothing feels to be broken so I think I'll just get few dark bruises from it.", he smiled assuredly at the older man who was still observing him like a worried pup. Too bad for him.

He knew that small frown and what it meant. Iruka plunged himself at Kakashi and the silver-haired shinobi blocked five punches, three spin kicks and threw a somersault over the teacher's body as Iruka was going for a low kick. As Iruka spun back to his feet Kakashi was already delivering his own assaults, making the sensei take steps back as his pace increased for a moment, his footwork picking up a notch and the accuracy of the kicks and punches sharpening all the while. To his pleased note it seemed that his opponent had already anticipated the changes and was doing his best to keep up, blocking fervently and even trying to deliver his own attacks. As he made a sharp jab at Iruka's shoulder the teacher dodged while bending backwards, then deliberately dropping on the floor on his hands and swinging his both legs up to meet Kakashi's chest, sending the man staggering back from the impact. Iruka lifted himself rapidly from the floor, hopped up and delivered an upper-cut kick on Kakashi's shoulder, making the man fall on his one knee from the power behind the kick. Before Iruka had landed back on his feet, though, he felt a strong grip grabbing his other ankle and the next thing he saw was the wall advancing rapidly towards his flying body. He spun in the air and met the wall with his feet, feeling his muscles scream in agony as he bent his knees and tried to hold up his stance in order to bounce back at Kakashi, who seemed a little impressed as he watched Iruka change his flying motion into attacking strength as the tanned body launched itself back from the wall and was next to him in an instant. He stepped to the side for dodging the oncoming assault but hadn't taken into consideration how well teachers have learned to improvise while working with their students. Against Kakashi's beliefs that he was going for a mere strong punch, Iruka wrapped his arm around the man's chest, that way stopping his upper body's movement while his legs still continued their way past them before he twisted his lower body upwards, taking Kakashi with him in his still ongoing motion momentum and pulling the man's upper body backwards, right where he wanted him. Iruka's legs drew an almost full circle in the air before making contact with Kakashi's both shoulders and wrapping themselves around his neck. Then Iruka yanked his legs back while letting go of the others body, (he was only fighting with the man, not killing him. Yet at least.) and finishing the motion as his feet slammed on the floor with his opponent's head between them. His hands grabbed hold on Kakashi's feet and kept them in place against floor, bending the pale body in quite an impressive arc. They stilled their fight for a moment, both trying to grasp what the hell just happened.

"...Maa, I never guessed you'd be so flexible, sensei.", Kakashi commented while he made a mental note to check on academy's curriculum to see what was it that they taught to kids nowadays as the basic acrobatics.

Not to mention the mandatory stretches assigned for their teachers.

"First time for everything, I guess.", Iruka panted while the small euphoria from their activities fuzzed his head. He had actually nailed Kakashi. _The_ Kakashi. _The Hatake Kakashi_-

"Fine, fine, yes you had me there, could we proceed before it'll all get stuck into your head that you've nailed me for once?" Was it him or did the copy-nin actually sound like he was sulking? Iruka blinked as what the man had said registered in his mind. _How the hell did he-_

"I can feel that giddy grin of yours against my thigh, sensei."

"...Oh. Sorry.", he quickly checked if he had accidentally drooled on the other man's dark blue sweatpants while spacing out for a second. That would be embarrassing. The alarm broke the silence with its' beeping, giving the clear signal to the men to stop for a small rest before taking part to the second phase in their research.

q

"Really now, Iruka-sensei, if your students could see you now-"

"Just put that damn thing in already and get on with it, asshole."

"I thought you'd be prepared for this, considering it's part of your job description-"

"My job description doesn't include an apparent sadist who indulges himself with fellow man's agony and all but drags this out as it could be done in mere five minut- AGH! FUCK! You _PRICK_! THAT _HURT_!"

"Maa, maa, putting up some tolerance-"

"_SHUT UP!_"

q

"..."

"Not so fun to be on the receiving end, eh, Kakashi-san?"

"..."

q

They sat on the small terrace, both immersing in their dinner they cooked together as thoughtful silence reigned in the impromptu household of the two shinobi. The first samples for their research being put into the fridge for Tsunade's visit, they were both slowly realizing what it was they had indeed agreed to. Iruka gave a brief glance at his bandaged thigh and then at Kakashi's and before he knew it a small laughter escaped his lips when he spotted the grumpy frown on the other man's masked face. The glare he received didn't do anything to lessen his spontaneous hysterics and to the older man's absolute mortification the teacher fell down on the floor with gales of laughter taking over his body, his dinner forgotten. Known for his reputation as a patient professional, the man of thousand jutsus decided to wait for the tanned man to gather his wits enough to explain himself before ramming a hefty _raikiri_ up in that trembling ass. The minutes passed and the hysterics died, leaving a panting Iruka wiping the tears from his eyes so that he could see his now cooled dinner in order to continue eating. He gave a few awkward coughs as he sat back up, not daring to cast any looks at the ominous aura gathering just three feet next to him.

"Care to share what amused you so much to make you lose it in front of your superior, sensei?"

Scratch being cooled, his dinner was pure ice now.

"Sorry, Kakashi-san, I'm just very tired due to our day and it's only afternoon." Oh well, he didn't even try to hold his poker face here. "Besides, you have to admit we do look hilarious with these odd healing bandages around our thighs and wearing these ridiculous half-trousers and jackets they gave us for the sample taking" Iruka chuckled as he motioned at the bright green bandages around their legs and then their gray pants, them being made of thermal fabric in order to keep the muscles warm while taking the samples and consisting of boxer-style upper part with two detachable trouser legs, the other being taken off of the leg where the blood sample was taken from. The jackets they both wore were made of the same fabric with sleeves designed for similar purposes as the trouser legs.

The gray eye inspected the grinning teacher with unreadable intentions and for a moment Iruka thought that he had indeed crossed some invisible line between their amiable squabbling. The low grunt forming into a chuckle proved him to be wrong with his worries as the uncovered eyes turned into amused crescents. However, that chuckle had a dark tinge in it.

"I suggest you lay off your dinner for now before our second match, sensei."

"Why so?"

"You'll throw up."[2]

q_q

[1] Ah, well, you know the drill. Very classical phrase in all of its forms. And always so fun to mess with. Too bad it wasn't mine to create.  
[2] Just had to make a small hommage for Naruto's first scenes with Kakashi-sensei giving their instructions for the survival test. Priceless.

AN: Anyhow, read, review, throw a bone or two. Next chapter is on its way.~wink~


	2. Day 2

_AN: Thank you all for your reviews, they've encouraged me enough to get this upcoming chapter into shape! Enjoy!_

Disclaimer. Again. Not Kishimoto. Deal with it.

_Day 2: Service with a smile._

As the morning rays dyed the sky with dim blue hue, the inhabitants in the Hidden Village of Konoha stirred awake and began their daily lives, some making their rather slow way back home after a night with way too dizzy memories involving scandalous ways to use genjutsu, some practicing their Blossoming Springtime Of Youth by waltzing through the streets with roller skates while blindfolded, some giving a suffering groan at the beeping of the alarm clock because yesterday was just too troublesome experience to be repeated in _any _lifetime...

...and some were happily knocked out and fast asleep like the two frazzled figures of the extraordinary household in a seemingly harmless-looking light gray house behind an impressive fence wall right next to the bustling morning traffic.

Until the insistent ray of light hit the dark brown eyes, that is.

Iruka's eyes opened up in order to cast a narrow glare at the small innocent line of light cutting through their otherwise delightfully dark bedroom from between the sliding doors, creating a strong contrast of light and shadow against the floor, wall and ceiling it crossed on its jolly way. The exhausted sensei gave a sleepy sniff, turned on his other side and closed his eyes, determined to sleep all the way to next week, obligations be damned. The sudden throbbing wave of pain from his ribs, shins, shoulders, hipbones, temples and even jaw nerves had other ideas, though.

His body was complaining.

With _an attitude_.

The now very irritated teacher turned slowly back on his back in hopes for the pain getting the hint and permitting him to lull himself back to the sweet, sweet dream where his students were practicing knots on chakra ropes with the motivation of actually learning them instead of getting their tiny heads filled up with plans on how to tie up their sensei hanging upside-down from the closest ceiling beam. Then again Iruka wasn't known to be a good teacher for nothing, and applying theory into practice was what he did best.

The glaring tiny faces hanging above him made the rest of his week that day.

The violent jab of pain shooting throughout his spine shook the tanned man out of his reveries and a suffering hiss escaped between his clenched teeth. If his back was ever before trying to kill him, he had no doubts it wouldn't succeed in its attempts this time. He could feel the tendons of his spine twisting, the once healed vertebrae grinding against each other and being just plain _mean_ when he bent his back on his mattress in different directions in order to either find a pleasing position which wouldn't hurt like twenty giant shurikens cutting into his body, or just promptly dislocating his spine from several points which was also an efficient way to reach the desired unconsciousness. Not healthy nor wise on any scale, but being in excruciating pain did wonders to one's priorities. He turned his head to the side and the dark eyes set their focus on the room's other resident who was sleeping ten feet away from his bed. A tuft of silver hair peeked beneath the thick dark blue comforter and silent breathing could be heard from the owner of the seen tuft if one listened carefully enough. Amidst his agony, Iruka had a fleeting wonder on how the ex-ANBU could sleep so soundly right next to another shinobi. Then again, that breathing pattern was a bit _too _leveled and even. Iruka felt his already bad mood rocket up into new heights as his dark eyes narrowed into thin slits.

The genius asshole was wide awake.

Swell.

Iruka growled and heaved himself up on his futon, grunting and hissing all his merry way as every single muscle, nerve, tendon and even body hair flared up the second time with their own opinions against the current physical exercise. Even his internal organs had their say in the matter, hell, he's spleen felt like it would cease to exist any minute now. Iruka stilled for a moment to gather his breath, sat on his rumpled bed, and tried to find reasons valid enough for him to actually be that suicidal for what he was about to do. Stretching out and putting his legs on the seemingly chill floor boards and then standing up has never before appeared so unappealing to the young teacher. Not even when he was recuperating from Mizuki's attack. As if sensing the man's troubled thoughts with the said conundrum, his physiology decided to give its final blow on his now officially second shitty morning in a row.

Shinobi or not, he still had to pee.

As to prove the point, his bladder announced that it didn't honestly care if he'd ever make it to the toilet or not.

Kakashi cast a slightly amused yet worried look after the teacher who vehemently hobbled out of the bedroom while the man cursed rather colorfully under his breath whenever his mouth wasn't reserved for hissing or growling. Iruka's hair was tied up quickly and sloppily but efficiently enough to keep the long strands away from his face not to annoy the man any further and his skin was covered with an impressive amount of cuts, bruises and burns. To Kakashi's pleased note, the teacher looked like shit flushed down twice.

Not that the copy-nin was in any better condition. The dull, throbbing pain which took residence in every nook it could possibly find within the pale body gave him a pretty good idea on how the other man was feeling at the moment. How Iruka ever managed to stand on his own and make even a single step was beyond him. Apparently training without their usual chakra did have its bad side as well, which neither of them had realized before since they usually dispelled their seals right after the training in order to heal themselves. It wouldn't do to appear in the village with more than one bruise decorating their faces or to be incapable of bending down when needed.

People might get ideas.

Now fully awake, the older man shifted his pensive lone gray eye to observe the now more illuminated ceiling of their shared room. Yesterday was interesting, even fun on some parts. They had continued their training with three more fights for twenty minutes each, and after the first Iruka had to admit he was feeling a bit nauseous. Then again, being thrown over other's shoulder two times and then getting hit on one's stomach with an upper-cut heel before tasting two more blows on the same spot served with quite eager fists could do that to a person. Nevertheless, Kakashi was pleased with his three wins. After all, the first match and the complete surprise in the end with the teacher's amazingly pulled leg stunt did bruise his jounin's ego quite a bit. Not that he'd ever give the brown-eyed maniac any satisfaction by admitting it. He already had his hands full with-

_Ow._

_Ow, ow, ow._

Kakashi heard a low groan escape his masked lips underneath the comforter as some more body parts decided to gang up against him. He really would work just fine with only one kidney. On the other hand, at the end of this current assignment he actually might be in that condition if their training kept going in even more challenging direction from what it already was.

To amplify the fun, his lumbar region decided to agree with the man.

His body really seemed to hold a grudge against all the bad treatment inflicted on it in the past.

The elite shinobi hissed and bit his lip as both of his calves felt obliged to emphasize how right he was when the sudden and very painful cramps took them over. He pressed his toes desperately against the mattress, pressed and hoped for anything, _any_ available deity out there bored enough to pay attention to one pained copy-nin, to ease the stabbing pain burning in his legs. The combo of one spin kick, three heel kicks and two blows with both his shins was really taking its toll now. As the pain started to alleviate more into tolerable dull ache the silver-haired shinobi felt his body relax, as relaxed as one could be with constant pain, and he released a small relieved sigh accompanied with a small _'thanks'_ directed to anyone up there. Or below, he wasn't feeling picky at that moment.

"Good morning to you too, Kakashi-san", a slightly raspy voice half-groaned on its way past him.

The gray eye focused on the dark-skinned man who was now considering the pros and cons of even_ trying_ to bend his knees and back in order to pick up his folded clothes from the floor next to the futon. The dark eyes seemed to seriously ponder the consequences if the teacher would continue their mission wearing only his black boxer briefs that were exhibiting the firm yet seemingly uptight ass and honey-toned bruised thighs quite nicely to the pervert behind his back at that moment. The older shinobi decided to turn his eye away from the oblivious sensei, since getting an accidental morning wood would luckily just add yet another category of muscles aching like hell in his already steadily growing list of body parts he'd love to get rid of right now. That or he might just die from it, whichever came first. Either way, both options were something the copy-nin didn't feel too keen to explore on that morning, especially not with an audience provided by a fellow shinobi who had a sixth sense on awkward situations and how to turn them even more humiliating for others, _especially_ if Hatake Kakashi was involved.

"Good morning, sensei", being in pain wasn't a valid excuse to be rude.

"I managed to make us some breakfast in case you'd be daring enough to get up and crawl to join me." Great, now he was also hearing things- _Wait, what?_

"...Come again?", Kakashi gave a brief, baffled look over the edge of his comforter at Iruka who somehow had actually managed to pull his slacks on and was now very, _very_ slowly stretching his hands above his head in order to slip into a white striped tank top. Add some hissing, cursing and grimacing and _voilà_, the sensei was all dressed up. Still looking like shit but nonetheless, the academy sensei was up while the elite jounin was still loitering under his blanket.

The jounin who felt his ego bruise a tad bit more as he caught a glimpse of that damned smug shit-eating smirk spreading on that cut and bruised tanned face.

"I said I made us some _b – r – e – a – k – f – a – s – t_, _Kakashi-kun_." Iruka's back was killing him, his legs were seconds away from giving in and it was getting increasingly hard to stand straight as the room felt inclined to shift constantly around him, but he'd be damned if he wouldn't notice the condition the other man was in, which was frankly seemingly shitty, nor rubbing the said man the wrong way the second he got the chance.

_'That's right, you arrogant asswipe'_, his all the while spreading grin told the superior shinobi, _'the little __chuunin__ is up and good to go while you're still cuddling that pillow of yours, o the man of thousand egos.'_

"I'll wait for you on the terrace. Feel free to get up, Kakashi-_san_", and with that the mangled man once again hobbled out of the room but with much more dignity than a few moments ago on his way to relieve himself (which was a trial he never thought he'd experience before being older than _at least _ninety years and something he'll never mention to _anyone_).

It took Kakashi some precious seconds to calm down his boiling blood and gather the remnants of his famous hip and cool demeanor, as the nightmare in green would put it, before Iruka heard the doors to their bedroom and toilet open and close and the careful, shuffling sounds of a maimed body reached his ears. The teacher snickered as the mumbled curses wafted in the air while the older man dressed up. Pleased with having found the right strings to pull in order to get the lazy man out of his bed, Iruka fiddled the warm tea cup in his hands and held his eyes closed against the bright morning light. He was badly beaten, true, but he hadn't had so much fun in years when compared to yesterday's training sessions.

That and he also had felt something stir back in life inside him during their last match, like something once lost was finding its place again and the teacher had realized that he liked it. _A lot_.

A rather loud curse flew past him from inside their bedroom through the opened slide doors of their training room and Iruka felt a faint grin tug at his lips as he took a sip of his tea. It seemed that Kakashi had finally spotted the marks he had managed to inflict on the pale torso during their matches. The teacher gave a glance at his equally suffered hands. He was surprised to find out that he was actually a rather skilled fighter without all of his chakra, but also quite pleased with the pale cyclops who was actually a very good teacher when he chose to. Kakashi never took their squabbling seriously and didn't intentionally demean Iruka whenever he couldn't land a decent hit on the jounin. On the contrary, the silver-haired man took notes when they fought and actually provided good hints on how to create a better attack when the next opportunity came. After beating the shit out of him while smirking all the way like the sadist the man was, of course. It was a habit they had created rather accidentally during their very first match in the past. A wry smirk stretched on the scarred face and Iruka felt his body shake with silent chuckle when the memories of their first fights came back to his mind.

"You have three seconds to explain yourself before my fist takes permanent residence in your gut, sensei."

Good that Iruka was a professional. Otherwise Kakashi would be missing more than that tongue already.

While reigning in his reflex to spin around on the spot and use his left hand to smash the tea cup against the wall beam next to him in order to give it sharp edges deadly enough to cut whatever body part the asshole behind his back was willing to jeopardize while his right hand would have _made sure_ the fucker wouldn't move even a quarter of an_ inch _before making the said cuts, Iruka chose to calmly set down his tea before turning to meet the dark gray eye which was boring holes into his head.

"I made you some coffee, Kakashi-san." Not to forget the bright smile on his lips, of course.

Q

"That was good. Thank you, sensei."

Empty plates were piled on the small tray between them as they devoured the breakfast Iruka had managed to create for them. Even if it was simple and consisting of fruit and fish mostly (apparently Tsunade had forgotten to mention that she'd put them on a diet as well, something they both deemed to be as plausible as Jiraya-sama writing juvenile literature), it was still enjoyed with a healthy appetite. Their bodies were starving. Apparently sparring without all of their chakra reserves also affected their metabolism and the sense of hunger. Something to keep in mind when out on a mission.

"I'm glad you liked it. Don't get used to it, though, I think I used my quota of being nice to you for the rest of the week", the dark eyes glinted with amusement as Iruka gave a rather challenging look at the older man beside him. He was glad that Kakashi had enjoyed their breakfast fully, the man had even mind enough to thank Iruka for the coffee he brewed for the jounin. Being a tea drinker didn't mean he couldn't handle one coffee maker.

They had manuals for a reason.

"Maa, I'll make us lunch then. Sharing the chores."

"You mean after rendering me into an immobile heap of beaten mush on the floor so I wouldn't be able to do it anyhow, Kakashi-san?"

The mismatched eyes arched into delighted crescents. "Precisely."

"How thoughtful of you", Iruka snorted and took the last sips of his sixth tea. Then he reached to his side and took the small notebook they had found from Tsunade's bag the previous day. Kakashi gave the book a suspecting glance over the edge of his mug. He didn't like the amused look on Iruka's face. The man was onto something.

"We both read this notebook yesterday, right?" Now Kakashi was really worried, that smile wasn't boding _anything _good.

"..Yeah?" Iruka couldn't ever believe that the lone gray eye could look so hesitant.

"Did you notice it had seals on it?" Iruka dangled the book between his fingers with a raised eyebrow directed at it. Kakashi took the book and gave it a thorough scan with his sharingan only for a second in order not to waste away any more chakra than necessary. The sudden silence that ensued was tangible between them.

"...What the hell?" Kakashi was astounded. Never during his career had _any_ Hokage relied on so firm precautions with his mission details than Tsunade. He gave a look at Iruka and saw that the other was thinking the same.

They didn't like it.

_Not one bit._

"She really knows us, neh?" Iruka chuckled and snapped Kakashi out of his speculations. The gray eye cast a questioning look and the dark orbs crinkled with bright amusement. Then the other seemed to catch on what the tanned man meant and they both shared bemused chuckles over the small book.

"She really seems to, sensei." Kakashi tapped the book with his fingers. "Impressive."

The fact was that they were both notoriously nosy, especially when it came to mission details, and it seemed that their Hokage had anticipated that they would dig out everything there was to dig when concerning the set up of their cooperation.

"The seal type she used opens one spread at a time as the time goes by. It has about five seals, but I couldn't deduce the time range they're set for. We'll just have to wait, I guess, since it isn't wise to use your chakra on your sharingan when you'd need it constantly during our fights." Iruka scratched the scar on his nose. He really didn't mean to doubt that they weren't given all the information concerning the research, but he just had to check if that small book really had only a briefing about their fighting times, chakra seals and the sample taking. He knew there was something fishy going on with that book the moment he took it out of that bag.

Kakashi opened the book and gave the brand new pages a quick read. Apparently his surprises didn't end yet for the day. The new spread was filled with small illustrations of different stretches Tsunade seemed to think necessary for them in the morning, in the evening and both before and after every match. That wasn't the whole surprise, though.

All of the stretches were meant to be carried out with a partner.

This was going to be a trying mission for both of them.

Q

"...I sense someone tensing up, sensei."

"Oh hush", Iruka hissed, his glaring brown eyes a mere seven inches away from Kakashi's as the two men were standing at the backyard of the house, both having their legs firmly planted on the grass and both holding their hands on each others' shoulders, holding themselves an arms-length away from one another. As they both knew that Godaime had a sixth sense on her patients' bluffs when it came to their physiotherapy and that her wrath alone was already keeping the times in the hospital quite busy as it was, the men decided it would be less humiliating to do them altogether than face the burning amber eyes and the steel fists of their leader.

If they would've known how awkward it would actually get when bending down from their knees like the old geezers in the parks while holding another shinobi a little too close for comfort, moreover trying to hold from collapsing at the same time because of the sheer pain the stance caused, they may have spent another minute to reconsider their decision.

Iruka panted a little as they arose to stand up before bending down again, and Kakashi had to admit that even _he _felt a bit out of breath after holding the first stance for five minutes. He gave Iruka a little squeeze on the man's shoulder and received a similar one on his. It was something he was taught in ANBU and what proved to be rather handy when words would take too much effort. They nodded at each other and slowly began their way down once more.

"Agh..shit..how in hell do you hold up so well..?" Iruka grunted as his thighs screamed in pain and his knees complained. Apparently launching oneself from a wall wasn't the brightest thing to do.

"Being an ANBU helps. Once one gets trained properly it also gets easier to bear the pain." Kakashi gave the tiniest shrug he could with his occupied shoulders. He usually didn't like to speak about his past career before the chaos triplets, but somehow Iruka's grimacing face was giving him enough reason to elaborate on his tolerance on pain. Not that he wasn't groaning in agony inside his mind at that moment, that is. The dark brown eyes stopped their wincing to look deep into the gray eye which started to look more uncomfortable than unreadable with every passing second under the teacher's examining gaze. Then the observing eyes shifted away and Kakashi witnessed how a small red tinge took over the tanned cheekbones.

"..Silly me. Sorry, Kakashi-san."

"..No worries. It's what it is, those things are the past now. What about your back then, sensei?"

Iruka snapped his eyes to stare again at the older man. The gray eye was as unreadable as ever over the mask, but the curiosity was there. Iruka could feel the small twinges of pain on his spine, and after the other's revelation he did feel obliged to share something about himself to the now silent man. He gave a small shrug as well. "It doesn't hurt anymore on daily basis, if that's what you think. It took about half the year to get rid of the pain, though. Another half for it to really function properly, since Mizuki had managed to hit quite close the verterbrae and the nerves around them. I was indeed lucky that night. Nowadays, not so much fuss about it. Although it does hurt like hell now, thanks to _someone _eagerly serving me a menu of feet and fists yesterday", he gave a dry smirk at the pale man. He didn't want to worry the other, but he knew that Kakashi had stared at him for just a second the previous evening when they showered after their last match before going to sleep. It was just a matter of when the curious bugger would probe the subject.

"Not to forget the service with a smile, eh?" Kakashi's voice gained again an amused tone, for which they were both grateful. They stood there, their aching knees bent, and the village around them filled the air with the day's noises carried over the fence.

"Kakashi-san."

"Hm?"

"..I can't feel my left leg anymore."

Q

Kakashi dropped down and slid beneath Iruka's swinging leg, then stood up and whacked the man on the back with his both fists, thus sending the teacher stagger on the tatami mats. Iruka spun around with a growl and lifted his forearms to block the punches Kakashi delivered the next second, the jounin pushing the sensei backwards towards the nearest corner. The moment Iruka felt his back hit the wall he dodged down to the side as he could see the fist aiming for his head whiz through the air towards its goal. As he dodged, Iruka managed to punch straight at Kakashi's midriff, hence making the man double over as the air left him. Then the teacher lifted his leg and half pushed, half kicked the man away from him in order to get away from the wall. The pair fell silent, Kakashi leaning on his legs and Iruka heaving for air as he shifted his balance from one leg to another. Narrow gray eye examined the equally narrow brown ones.

"..Fuck." Iruka grimaced and suddenly collapsed on his knees on the floor while holding his sides with his hands. The pain was overwhelming, his already bruised sides throbbing with pure vengeance as they were once again violated. Kakashi was next to him in an instant.

Iruka saw the passing smile on those masked lips and knew that he couldn't do anything to stop whatever the jounin had in store for him.

The jounin landed a heavy blow with his both hands on the firm chest, taking the last wheeze of air out of Iruka's lungs. Iruka's eyes widened up and his mouth opened for a silent cry as he felt himself left without even a whiff of breath. Kakashi leaned down next to him, caught the man as he fell backwards towards the floor and slowly lowered the gaping chuunin on his back. Iruka gasped for air and for a moment the ex-ANBU really thought he had gone too far, but then the teacher again proved him wrong when he managed to pull in huge gulps of breath, his skin returning slowly back to its normal sunny color.

The alarm began its beeping.

"You..._cheap_...bastard.." Iruka grabbed the masked man's cheek and pinched it for all its worth with his trembling fingers.

"Maa...always go for the kill, sensei." The gray eye gave a dry smile.

Q

They both had small books on top of their heads as they sat cross-legged across from each other, the sunlight dancing on the walls surrounding them. The rather flat look from dark eyes questioned heavily the quite sheepish gaze in the lone gray.

"This is ridiculous, Kakashi-san."

"...Well, you never know before you try, sensei."

"...And why did you want us to try this?"

"Saw it in a movie once. Wanted to try and see what all the fuss was about."

Iruka snorted, snatched the book from upon Kakashi's head and gave the silver-haired dimwit a good whack with it. While the surprised jounin gathered himself from the floor, Iruka stood up and slowly hobbled to make some tea, coffee and fish sandwiches as a small snack for them before their next match, his gray thermal clothes swishing as he made his way into their kitchen.

That crazy jounin will be the death of him one of these days.

Q

They once again held the arms straight but this time gripping their joined wrists while leaning backwards and filling the air in the room with pained hisses and gasps. They could feel their backs and shoulders complain about the hell they've been put through and quite frankly knowing that they'd be experiencing that a lot in these upcoming weeks did put a strain on their already ambivalent moods.

"Shit, shit, shit this hurts...ow..ow.._oww_..." Iruka groaned and hung his head downwards, his eyes tearing as a particularly nasty jab shot through his system. A low affirmative growl reached his ears and he had to sneak a peek at the other's face, just to be sure he heard right.

Not many got to see a sulking Kakashi and survive to tell the tale.

Kakashi felt a small tremble on his arms and lifted his eye to find out just what was going on with his stretching partner. Only to face eyes filled with mirth and a twisting mouth biting on its bottom lip frantically.

That damn chuunin was laughing at him. Again.

"Something funny caught your eye, sensei?" The icy look on that lone eye did sober Iruka's gleeful mind for a moment and the pain that had subsided just for a minute dashed for the chance it got. So instead of the bright laughter like the one on their previous evening, a suffering, low moan escaped the gasping mouth and Iruka's eyes squint shut as he grimaced. A small pressure was felt on his wrist and he gave a small nod to the man, not trusting to open his eyes as yet another moan rippled from his throat. His back had reached the very peak on its scale of pain apparently.

"Oh _fuck_, shit, holy _kami _that feels like twenty Narutos plowing on my back...no..make it forty."

"Don't tense up, sensei. You should try to feel only your muscles rather than the pain surrounding them. That way you won't sprain them and actually help them to become relaxed and pliant again. It will hurt like hell, believe me I _know_, but it's worth it. Just breathe and take it slow, sensei" Kakashi gave an assuring smile against the skeptic look thrown at him and he slowly leaned more back, causing them both to tremble more as their muscles struggled against the slow stretch they were forced to take. Iruka's hands clawed harder on Kakashi's as he tried to keep himself from falling to the ground. Kakashi was trying equally hard to gather his focus. Scratch being an ANBU, he felt like weeping like the three-years-old he was when he stumbled and hit his head through a shoji screen wall while sparring with his father. More out of humiliation than pain, but weep he did.

They stood still for a moment, both doing their best with their resentful bodies. Then they slowly pulled each other back up and felt their arms tremble as they let go. They shook their muscles and bent their sides cautiously for a moment before Kakashi strolled casually to the small alarm waiting for them patiently.

"Ready for the next round, sensei?"

As he set the time and put the alarm back on its place the resonance of silently running feet on the matted floor was all the answer he needed.

Iruka grabbed hold underneath Kakashi's arm pits and bent the man's arms up and back while he planted his feet firmly on the ground. Kakashi twisted himself in the iron hold and then suddenly plummeted forward as he took hold of Iruka's wrists from behind his head. He rolled his back forward and threw the surprised sensei over his back down on the floor. Iruka continued his momentum after his back hit the floor and rolled away from the other man just as the pale fist whammed on the floor right where his shoulder was seconds ago. The teacher rolled quickly on his feet and dashed at Kakashi from the man's side, aiming a nasty punch at the man's hip but missing the blow as his target dodged backwards. They stood up and circled the room, keenly waiting for the opening they knew the other would present, one way or another.

Iruka was the first to spot one.

Kakashi felt his body hit the wall as he was surprised by the teacher's accurate kick. In seconds the chuunin was over him, landing blows on his blocking hands with such enthusiasm and strength that he was rather doubtful if he'd be able to hold his coffee mug the next days after their session. Iruka drew his fists back for the deadlier blow and Kakashi chose that moment to put his own hands into more convenient use. The pale hands shot out to drive in sharp jabs on both tanned shoulders under that white and already sweaty tank top, effectively reducing the speed of the oncoming blow and giving himself time to slip away from the teacher's fists. He rounded the chuunin, grabbed the man's ponytail and forced the now struggling man against the wall with a thunk. Iruka managed to shield his head with his arm as Kakashi pounded his head against the wall once, then he felt stinging pain as the sadist in question yanked him back from his hair and threw down on the floor. Iruka instantly shielded his diaphragm and his head with both his legs and arms, stopping Kakashi's fists before they made contact. The jounin gave an evil smirk over the trembling arms and legs, then he grabbed the crossed wrists and started to force them over the tanned man's head in order to pin them to the floor. Iruka glared the man with all his might and resisted his intentions, the hands being pulled and twisted amidst their game. Then the older shinobi added his body's weight on top of the still bent knees and Iruka choked in agony, his legs being bent further against his middle, pushing his body more into fetal position on his back.

The sudden knee pressing down on his now exposed rear was highly unexpected, though.

Iruka jerked against the intrusion and the moment he realized the man's plot it was already too late. Kakashi victoriously pulled the hands above the chuunin's head, took hold of them with his one hand as the other hand started to press against the spasming side presented to him while he bent the teacher's body into an arc on the floor. Iruka realized he was royally screwed the moment Kakashi's legs managed to push his own legs apart and the man settled between them on his knees, leaving the teacher open for the man to torment him. The jounin's knuckles dug deeper into his ribs and it took all his training for Iruka not to cry out in pain.

He would not crumble in front of this man.

_No way in seven hells._

"You're quite something, sensei."

There was no way he could even _snort _for that line. Iruka twisted his arms against the hold, knowing he wouldn't last long in this position. He needed a plan. Fast.

The jounin knew he was in trouble when he spotted that gleam in the glaring eyes.

Iruka bent his legs once again, brought them rapidly against Kakashi's lower body and started to push them against the joints between Kakashi's hips and thighs, creating an enormously uncomfortable pressure against the tender skin areas as the heels dug mercilessly further into them. Kakashi's free arm flung to tear away the imposing limbs, but two legs against one hand was proving to be a challenge. As he felt the man shift his weight more on his one knee only, that way giving a little more space for the chuunin's other leg to move, Iruka saw his chance and snapped his foot sharply at the man's groin. A strangled sound escaped the masked lips and the violated jounin jerked upwards, feeling slightly disoriented due the burning pain in his trousers, and the next thing he knew were two blows on his jaw and then hands shoving him to his side on the floor as the body once pinned underneath him rolled hastily away. Collecting all the temper he had to offer, Iruka staggered up and delivered the cruelest kick he could ever pull into the stomach of the man laying on the floor. The jounin doubled over and small heaving sounds escaped his lips while Iruka swayed on his feet upon him.

The fact that he had apparently nailed the famous copy-nin for the _second _time slowly dawned on Iruka and he felt more than heard the small disbelieving chortle leave his lips.

The sound of alarm faded into darkness when the teacher saw the floor catch up to him as his mind shut down for a nap.

Q

"..sei. Sensei."

The brown eyes squinted at the hurting light and tried to find their focus on whatever was disturbing his sleep. Iruka felt his throat to be dry, his lips been split from several spots and his temples throb.

"...Sensei?"

He didn't like that hesitating tone. Hesitating Kakashi meant Iruka with a headache.

"Really, sempai, give the man some air."

The snorting ANBU from yesterday. His headache became justified.

Iruka blinked his eyes slowly and after a moment they focused on two rather eccentric figures looking down at him, one with a black fabric mask covering half of his face while the other had his face completely hidden behind that unnerving porcelain mask. Talk about the inventiveness of shinobi fashion.

"..What..?" Iruka dared to cast a a look over the examining men and saw that they were in their bedroom. That and there was something probing his right leg at the exact moment his consciousness caught up with him. He lifted his head to give a better look at his leg. What he saw made both his blood boil and retreat from his suddenly pale cheeks.

He was missing his black slacks and thus he was laying on his back in nothing more than his black boxer briefs and damp white tank top while the seemingly amused ANBU was sitting on his other side and the other prick on the other, all the while taking Iruka's blood sample from the joint of his hip and thigh. Iruka did notice the bright green healing bandage on Kakashi's leg but that did nothing to lessen the homicidal urges surging into his mind and body the second he fully understood his situation.

It was a long month ahead of them and by all the things cruel and unholy he'd make the one-eyed dick's life _a_ _living hell_ during it.

As if sensing the seething sensei's speculations on how to make his peer suffer with unnecessary violence, the ANBU gave a polite cough and put his hands casually near the teacher's head. Iruka recognized the subtle warning for what it was and took a deep breath to calm his nerves. It wouldn't do to get an ANBU on his neck, after all, he was supposed to be a professional. The sting of the needle being pulled out caught his attention and he looked as Kakashi bound the bandage around his bruised thigh after sealing the vial with Iruka's blood in it, the heavy silence stretching between the three persons in their small bedroom.

"Sempai called for me to come and check if he had accidentally broken you, sensei." Was it him or did the ANBU sound very amused at those words?

"Huh?" Iruka heard his mouth join the conversation without the consent of his brain.

"He _means_ that I was merely concerned if you'd used too much chakra and thought that since I couldn't do any excessive healing due to my own seal, it would be wise to call for someone else in case you needed more medical attention than just rest and painkillers, sensei." Kakashi huffed and glared at the snorting ANBU over the resting teacher, his next words slow and filled with a promise of pain. "And since Tsunade-sama was away in a meeting I had no other choice than to call for ANBU, as they are the only ones beside us to be able to enter here. _Thank you_ for your time, _kohai_."

The ANBU gave a nod with a small chuckle, then stood up and gave a small look down at Iruka.

"You'll be fine, sensei. Just rest for a few hours and eat something. You still have chakra left, but your body is exhausted. Don't push it too much."

Iruka gave the man a slow nod, not trusting himself to sit up just yet, and he heard Kakashi give a small grunt as his reply. The masked ANBU lifted two of his fingers as a farewell and vanished. The silence between them two left in the room enveloped them and Iruka could feel the slow burning creep on his cheeks as he considered his vulnerable state. That and the fact that he had managed to present himself to the same frigging _ANBU_ the second time while wearing only his underwear. If those talks about the importance of the first ten seconds when giving the first impression were true, the now cherry-red teacher was _sure_ that the ANBU in question had _no doubts whatsoever _about his capability as a chuunin academy teacher.

He could never again scold the ANBU for stealing their weekend sake from the mission room.

It was Kakashi to snap Iruka out of his uneasy thoughts. The jounin tapped the chuunin's leg, gaining a rather dark glare from the man on the mattress, and gave the teacher a small placating smile under his mask, the mismatched eyes turning into brightly smiling crescents as well.

"Do you want your supper served in bed, sensei?"

QQQ

_AN: Ah, well, second chapter done. Digging for more bones! Chapter three coming up!_


	3. Day 2 Evening

_AN: I hope you'll have as much fun reading this as I had writing it. Enjoy enjoy!_

Q_  
_

_Day 2, the evening : Bells ringing._

The still warm rays of falling dusk danced over and through the silent, small and seemingly harmless-looking light gray house surrounded by a high fence wall. The light began its explorations by creeping over the worn gray boards of the wooden terrace towards two opened doorways, the other leading the curious rays into a big dim training room, the other into the kitchen. The only sound heard inside the kitchen walls was the faint chugging sound of the coffee maker on the counter, as the lines of light stretched on the white cupboard doors, crawled to the ceiling and slowly faded into shadows as the bravest of them moved to explore the dark corridor with three doors. The more shy rays decided to take a peek inside the now silent training room with tatami mats. The light expanded itself in every corner it could possibly find within the wide and ascetic room, delighted when no obstacles obscured its way as it filled the faint dents of missed punches on the floor and the walls with pleasure, save for one rude alarm put against one wall, and before it knew it it had wandered into a smaller room where the sound of kitchen machinery switched into more natural, human sounds.

Sniffling, to be more specific.

Kakashi lowered his _Icha Icha Travel-set vol. 3 _and cast a nonchalant look at the sleeping form curled up on its own futon, blissfully unconscious and uncaring for the rest of the world around them. It's been two hours since the now faintly snoring sensei had laid his head on his pillow and zoned out almost instantly after having dressed on his black slacks and eaten the small supper Kakashi had prepared for them. It seemed that the man was more worn-out than he had appeared to be. Training with the current chakra reserves was proving to be a bigger challenge for both of them than they had anticipated. The muscle ache was something they were both used to while working as shinobi, true, but then again, they had medical nins to keep them in shape (or alive in jounin's case) whenever injuries happened, or them being skilled enough to deal with them on their own, which was their case during their training before this assignment. In this case, on the other hand, they could only do small healing on the worst sprains, cuts and bruises and it still left a whole bunch of others untreated.

Even the healing bandages they used didn't cover even half of their muscles hurting like hell.

A small cough caught the jounin's attention and he gave another brief look at the slumbering chuunin. Maybe Iruka had had similar doubts that their approach on the subject had been miscalculated. They seemed to fight similarly as before the mission, even though they knew very well that they had less chakra in their use than usually. Which basically meant introducing their bodies to a whole different reality than they were used to. Especially when it came to the snoozing bipolar devil ten feet away. In Kakashi's books, Iruka's points had leveled up a few notches during their second day. Fun sparring partner aside, that man was also packed up with a hefty amount of endurance and patience, which was something Kakashi valued highly in his fellow shinobi (and also something briefly reminding him of his first and last three-man cell).

Though the jounin did know better. The tanned sensei in question had been a foreign name in their active mission duty lists because of his very nature plus his status as a good academy teacher. The soundly sleeping man did have a temper like all the levels of hell combined, but to actually kill on everyday basis was a very different matter. Iruka was a man to trust your back to, but only when the situation called for retreat or distraction and either setting or disassembling traps. Kakashi had speculated for a while that the tanned pest performed his profession best when it came to indirect killing. Traps and barriers were obviously the intelligent chuunin's ideal tool, he was after all the one who found the right training seals for them, and the now slightly amused copy-nin did recall a day or two when he had been unlucky enough to get a taste of that inventive sadistic mind that was Umino Iruka.

He had never spent so agonizing eight hours with a mere manila rope and a wooden spatula.

It took three weeks to assure the Hokage that he wasn't into bondage of any kind since the woman saw the rope marks on his skin. Not to mention avoiding Gai for two weeks as the green beast insisted them to try his new training method called _Shinobi Mail Package_. Even thinking about the said hemp fiber made his skin itch.

The misused spatula on its part was promptly annihilated the instant it was flung out of the window with great force and used for target practice for the peeved and appalled lightning user.

Kakashi scratched absently his suddenly itching wrist and resumed his reading as the breathing of the other man evened out again once he had rolled on his side. After a few minutes of eying the always entertaining centerfold images, the cold gray eye turned once more to observe the peaceful sleeper. After three pensive minutes, the silver-haired man had reached his conclusion on the matter.

Enough with giving the man some rest, it was time to make the brown-haired thorn on his ass pay for messing with his crown jewels.

For the second time.

Q

Iruka woke up to an enticing scent that slithered its way into his dream. The dark eyes opened up into thin slits as the chuunin in question tried to dig his memory for why that particular scent sent bells ringing in his head. And why they resembled alarms going off by now.

That was the scent of steeping tea.

But not just any tea.

The current painwave be damned, the academy instructor had never thought he could heave himself up so effortlessly from his futon and stumble to the training room from where the now all too familiar scent was wafting into his nostrils. The alarm bells started to chime with a little higher pitch and with a slightly faster tempo as he finally found the correct specimen from the vast tea archives he had built up in his memory over the years as a happy tea addict.

That was his evening oolong with the faint palate of airy sweetness and ripe fruit flesh in the aftertaste.

The slightly disoriented sensei stopped abruptly to the threshold between their bedroom and training room as his eyes finally managed to focus on the sight before him. There was Kakashi, sitting cross-legged on the floor with one of his porn books in one hand and a coffee mug in the other. The object gaining Iruka's full attention wasn't the man nor his current centerfolds, though. It was the small set of one tea pot and a cup sitting innocently on a tray right in front of the jounin who seemed to be completely absorbed into his book. The sight unraveling before the chuunin was calm and collected altogether.

"...Maa, evening, sensei. Had a good nap? I made you some tea."

Hell, the alarm was downright roaring in his head at that moment.

"...What's this, Kakashi-san?" Iruka knew he shouldn't ask, he shouldn't let the curiosity get the better of him, but damn that sweet, sweet lingering aroma was so tempting and being _right there _for him to take and for the life of him he couldn't think a manoeuvre so skilled to just snatch that tray and fortify himself into their bedroom without getting that far too smug-looking bastard on his back. It seemed the situation was to be handled with a different tactic. Iruka swallowed the nervous tension down and slowly settled to sit across from the now reading man, not noticing how the bored gray eye watched every twitch of his muscles, counting hundreds of counterattacks based on every second it took for Iruka to sit down cross-legged on the floor. The dark, speculating eyes eyed the tray and its contents before rising back to examine the mismatched eyes which arched into happy crescents.

"I found your stash of tea and took the liberty to prepare you some. I hope that's okay."

One slender eyebrow rose to meet that sentence and the wariness in the observing gaze tripled. Then the eyes shifted back to stare at the strange offer of truce Iruka hoped it to be. He knew better, though. Friendly gestures and Hatake Kakashi were an equation which was usually reserved for situations called _'Enjoy while you still breathe through only two holes in your head for another five minutes'_. At least in their case. If he remembered correctly, the previous one occurred right after that hilariously entertaining escapade with the-

For the briefest moment the cinnamon chuunin wondered if it could actually be possible to become deaf due to the violent decibels booming inside one's head.

"...It's alright..Kakashi-san. This type is my favorite." He may be maimed in seconds, but he would still take a sip even if it kills him. Slowly and carefully Iruka reached for the tea pot, glanced at the slightly smiling jounin, poured calmly the oh so delicious beverage into his cup and took an experimenting sniff on the scent. As he didn't find a trace of any drug he could recognize, the now seemingly nervous sensei prayed fervently that the jounin wasn't psycho enough to go and try the odorless, equivalent of the deadlier, drugs on him. He didn't kick _that _hard, nor as accurately as-

"It'll get cold if you keep just breathing it, sensei. Unless this blend was something you just sniffed, for in that case I won't stop you."

Iruka let a low warning growl rumble from his throat at those smoothly said words before moving the cup to his lips, inhaling the airy aroma accompanied with his prayers for the last time and giving the last piercing glare at the way too expectant-looking jounin sitting across him..

...and took a slow sip.

It took a moment for Iruka to realize that the sound of bells wasn't anymore heard from inside his head.

It came from somewhere much, much lower.

"...Maa, I'd just sit still and listen carefully for a moment if I were you, sensei." The smooth, low voice rumbled suddenly right next to his ear and the teacher took a second to understand that the jounin had moved from his spot to crouch right before him, leaning that mangled yet firm body so close that it was shinobi's equivalent of feeling up someone, while the pale hand had taken a strong hold on his still holding the tea cup on his lips as the masked lips hovered next to a honey-toned ear. Iruka could feel his pulse speed up and the already chilled tea felt much hotter against his lips. Did the man put some poison after all in his tea since it was so hard to breath suddenly? The lean body shifted its muscles and Iruka felt a shudder travel down his spine.

"...May I assume that Naruto always ranted to you about our training methods while I had the official permission to torment those three?" The low and dangerous voice resonated near his ear and after a second the teacher realized he was holding his cup in a very much tighter grip. Iruka felt himself nod stiffly at the question, the words long dead on his tongue.

"...Good. Then you know already half of the idea I got and what I'd like us to try. " The small pressure on his right hipbone would have sent Iruka jerking back if he wouldn't have been so well trained to know when it's highly recommended to stay rooted on the spot if one didn't wish to examine one's internal organs spilled on the floor for a closer look. He could hear a faint chiming of a small bell and felt the deft fingers fiddle with the waistband of his trousers, attaching something on the black fabric. Something light which now hanged from his slacks against his thigh.

"I assume you have also discovered some difficulties and misjudged approaches we've had on this mission, neh, sensei?" Kakashi leaned back on his heels and gave the chuunin the much needed air between them. It was interesting for the jounin to see the usually very verbal teacher rendered speechless, furthermore witness how well the man had actually been trained for what it came to controlling one's body. Although the scarlet blush reaching to the watched man's hairline and down his dark neck made Kakashi's evening more than enough.

"...Y..Yes, I have, Kakashi-san." Iruka swallowed thickly as he filled his lungs with air and lowered his cup on his lap before his dark eyes narrowed their look at the masked man still sitting way too close for comfort. "The way we have been fighting resembles the previous times before we were given this task. That may become a problem, since our bodies are in a different situation now." The small nod gave him courage enough to continue. "It seems that my muscles have been in a shock since yesterday, and even if it is only a question of time when they would adjust and start working properly with this method we're using, it would be foolish to keep up the current way of sparring we have. It would become a threat for this mission since accidents tend to happen when one gets immersed into the things that are done...one of us might get severely injured, with or without the other's help." The dark gaze was again back to its professional hardness as the last words left the cinnamon lips. "We will fail this mission if we didn't retract our current approach on this subject and find another methods to put into use."

The small silence stretched between them as the dark brown eyes bored into one narrow gray. The two shinobis measured one another, carefully weighing their options on the dilemma they now had in their hands, as well one another's capability to finish their mission without any hitches. Then the older man's eyes smiled brightly and Iruka could once again hear the sound of a small bell as the older man scooted back, took the now cold tea from Iruka's hand and took their drinks with the small tray back to the kitchen. Iruka snuck a look down to see what was it that the silver-haired man had attached on him, only to spot an innocent silver bell hanging against his thigh at the end of a thin red thread. The moment he recognized the bell the eccentric name of one particular jutsu he was introduced with by his favorite blond bane of existence came smacking him down on the head and his cheeks heated up once again in mere two seconds.

_'One thousand years of pain.'_

He should have kicked harder. Then it would be reasonable.

"Should we begin our last round for the day then, sensei?"

Iruka snapped his eyes to look at the older man who stood by the alarm. The teacher stood up as well and straightened his drooping ponytail while he glanced at the other man's waist and spotted the bell that he knew had to be there. After all, he knew there were supposed to be two bells and also he knew fairly well the impressive (and rather vengeful) mind of Hatake Kakashi when it came to creating sparring lessons. The teacher had no doubts that the genius had come up with a solution he just needed to have Iruka's consent for. A confirmation the chuunin had just now provided by telling the man his own findings. A wry, lopsided smirk tugged Iruka's lips and he shook his head a little, gaining a wondering glance from his opponent. The grin stretched itself fully on the tanned face as the teacher met the speculating look in that gray eye.

"Saa, just figured that you're not called genius for nothing, Kakashi-san. Same for an utter jerk, though." Iruka chuckled brightly at the slightly appalled look he received before the ex-ANBU recomposed himself and gave a small awkward cough.

"...Maa, flattering words aside, I thought we could use some basic methods to see what our bodies can actually achieve without pushing them too far all the time. Besides, our muscles will kill us in our sleep if we were to torture them any more than we have already." The older shinobi set the timer for thirty minutes and Kakashi could feel the eyes observing him keenly as he put the alarm back on the floor against the wall and righted himself back up.

"What basics do you mean, Kakashi-san?" Iruka had to wonder on which scale Kakashi was evaluating their skills. If the meant basics were designed for jounin or ANBU then what was only playing games for the jounin was highly over the top for Iruka. If they were the ones meant for chuunin and genin, on the other hand..well, then he had a bored bingo book bugger in his hands, which was way worse than being dragged into the insanity that was jounin training.

The mismatched eyes both crinkled into happy smile, and, with all the honesty left somewhere in him, Kakashi couldn't help but admit that he really enjoyed the situation he was about to put them into. If his estimates were correct, they could actually have plenty of good results instead of giving Tsunade-sama a valid reason to be drunk during duty. Hell, he could almost describe the feeling in his gut as 'giddy'.

"We'll play the game of _it_."

The stunned look on that tanned face made his year.

"..Come again? Kakashi-san, with all due respect-"

"Don't underestimate the inventiveness and endurance of toddlers for what it comes to effective training, sensei. Pay better attention to their games the next time you see them at it. You might learn a thing or two from them. Now then, since we have only twenty-five minutes left..." Kakashi took a better stance, clearly signaling the other man that the time for chit-chat was long over. "...The rules are simple. We will both do the chasing. You get the bell, you win. You lose the bell, you lose your morning tea."

"_WHAT?!_"

"Simple, neh? Or would you want me to draw it-"

"Why the hell am I the only one who would lose something in case you snatch my bell? That's not fair, Kakashi-san!"

"Maa, sensei, that's beside the point-"

"It is _definitely _a point! You should also lose something in case I manage to snatch that thing from you." Iruka knew he was sulking, and he could see the smug ass enjoy every second of it, but damn it he would not play the game with unfair rules! His sense of justice was in the past the reason he was usually always the referee for what it came to childhood games, and he didn't intend to tarnish that nicely created reputation either. The amused glance from the slightly more narrowed gray eye made him reconsider his words, though.

"Oh, I will, sensei."

"What then?"

"Professional pride."

Iruka blinked for that sentence several times before the meaning behind those words sunk in. For the more ignorant, those words would have seem gallant, even humble and mature, but the now seething sensei was as far from being ignorant as Genma-san was from being a prudish, blushing virgin bride.

That obnoxious, pompous, arrogant monkey's ass was insulting him.

"..Fine then." Kakashi felt a smug grin form on his masked lips as the glorious glow on those cheekbones settled on a fainter tinge of clear irritation when Iruka took an offensive stance and pierced the jounin with eyes that blazed with imminent doom. "...I'll take on that offer, Kakashi-san, as well as I will, with all my might and _professionalism_, take those bells from you. _All three of them_."

If a look could kill, the jounin on the receiving end estimated it would hardly even do a scratch on him since he would already be a charred, smoking lump of ash and bones by that velvety, heated voice alone. Thus he couldn't help but add one more barrel of gunpowder in that fire.

"Better three than just one, neh, sensei?"

The distant sound of a very strained string snapping finally was sweet music to his ears. [1]

Iruka let out an enraged shout as he ducked down and all but surged at the other man, either to get the bell or the jounin's balls, both options something that Kakashi wasn't too keen to find out. The jounin dodged by leaping to the side, only to get face to face with the chuunin since he forgot to anticipate how quick reflexes the younger man had developed while having Naruto in his class. Kakashi spun around to the opposite direction on the balls of his feet and quickly rounded the sensei from the man's backside, but the man had already caught on his plan and shifted his hips away from the reaching fingers as he too spun around and stepped a few feet away from the other. They stood there, both men carefully assessing their hurting muscles and how far they could actually go with their new game. Iruka leaned down a bit and kneaded his thighs without losing his sight on the other man, and was delighted to see the considering look on the masked face. It was good to know that despite their differences the sense of pain seemed to be equal for them.

Kakashi shifted his weight from one leg to other before going for Iruka's bell, giving the chuunin hardly an opportunity to shield it as one pale hand made an attempt to grab the teacher's side and the other take the glinting prize. Iruka twisted his hips away and dashed backwards, dodging in every way he could as he held his bell away from those nimble hands. Kakashi plummeted aggressively forward but his intimidating approach was greeted with a sharp slap on his palm and another slap on the back of his head as Iruka stepped away from him and sent him staggering past the tanned man. The stunned jounin stilled for a moment before turning his head to look at the suddenly pretty confident man taking a better stand behind his back. A playful smirk stretched on Iruka's face and his dark eyes glinted with mischief as he gave the jounin an over-exaggerated and slow once-over and cocked his brown-haired head to the side.

"In case you've forgotten, copy-nin-san, you're speaking to an academy teacher. Observing toddlers is what I do best. And dealing with one in particular is my specialty."

The low huff hit him like a shock wave through the suddenly very tense ambiance. In seconds the older man was right next to the younger one and before he knew it it took all of Iruka's concentration to focus on the hands all over him by grabbing, pushing, hitting and twisting them away from his bell and his already sweating torso. The men fell into frantic game of tag as they both made simultaneous efforts on dodging and snatching the bells that filled the room with their high pitched chimes. Kakashi grabbed one of Iruka's hands that had already managed to stroke the metal surface of the bell and yanked the sensei towards him in order to make the man lose his game and give Kakashi an easy win. He cursed under his breath as the ever so damned fast and flexible sensei spun around with his other hand still held captive, took hold on the reaching jounin's hand with his other and backed them roughly up against the nearest wall, his body pinning the jounin behind his back. They pulled, twisted, shook and pushed, but neither of them would let go of the other's wrist nor would manage to free the caught hand from the other's grip. In order to win the fight by surprise factor, Kakashi quickly let go of Iruka's hand and swiftly jabbed for the bell but found his wrist taken into firm hold before his fingers could trace more than the red thread. Iruka leaned rapidly forward and then all but slammed his back against the other man behind him, hearing the pleasing sound of flesh hitting hard wall and feeling a small gust of breath against his neck as Kakashi let out a sharp hiss. Iruka felt his hands tremble already as he fought to keep a good hold onto the struggling man while he repeated his tactic of hitting the man with his back for a couple of times more in hopes for wearing the man out before his hands lost their strength.

The sharp sting of teeth biting into his neck caught him by surprise and he let out a shocked cry as his body arched and jerked violently, giving the more experienced nin an opening the man had been patiently waiting for.

Kakashi freed his hands from the now sloppy grips and shoved the sensei off of him, then took a good hold of the stumbling man's shoulder, yanked him backwards and kicked the popliteal areas of the man's legs. Iruka dropped on his back to the ground with a loud thunk, grimacing in discomfort as his muscles opposed the sudden change of position and the rather hard impact. After a small silence the sensei inhaled calmly and carefully crawled up on his heels in order to squat on the floor, a nervous smile tilting his lips as he cautiously tilted his dark head to look at the stoic jounin who hovered above him.

"..I'm not usually the one to get the rules wrong, but...Why didn't you take it?"

"Five more minutes, sensei."

The dawning look of horrid realization in those dark brown eyes was a feast to his ego.

Q

"..Stop that."

"Maa, stop what, sensei?" Snicker.

"You know perfectly well what."

"As elaborate as always, eh, sensei." Another snicker.

"That unnerving snickering, you ass. Besides, it's your fault."

"Maa, I didn't build the walls here. If I did...well, no, they would be exactly as rude as they're now." Snicker turned into chuckle. "Furthermore, wasn't it someone else who first decided to try making a jounin-shaped hole in one of them? That wall had all the reason to be rude, sensei."

"Oh go and fu- _GYAGH!_ _WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!_"

"Putting on some ice, sensei-"

"_NOT ON MY GROIN_, _YOU_ _PERV!_"

"Maa, my bad...Do you want me to-"

"Whatever you're mulling on that masked tongue I swear I'll punch that smirking mouth of yours so hard my fist will rip a hole into that pathetic piece of fabric and then mutilate your lower face so thoroughly that you'd actually have a _reason _to hide it if those next words hold any innuendos in them, Hatake-san."

"Maa, maa, aren't we touchy today, sensei."

"So would you be with a lump the size of Bull's snout on your temple", Iruka mumbled and winced as Kakashi made the last swipes on the small cut on the throbbing, bruised temple and then covered it with a healing bandage before putting a small bag of ice against it. Iruka grunted and took hold of the ice pack and pressed it against his head. Never had he even considered the possibility to be able to humiliate himself so utterly in mere five minutes. That must be his record.

"You're not feeling dizzy, are you?" Kakashi sat next to the man on the terrace and gave a concerned look despite the amused tone. He could also heal that injury, but then again it did seem like the ones that hurt only for a while before settling for a mere bruise, and they had healing bandages for a reason. At least the teacher didn't show any signs of concussion.

"No, I don't feel like fainting or anything. Thank you...though..for getting the ice." Iruka sighed and rubbed his eyes in a frustrated manner with his free hand. The men stayed silent, both lost in their thoughts as the sounds of nightlife crept over the fence. The dim lights of the streets glowed over the rim of the wooden boards and they could hear the bustling sounds of shinobis and civilians alike as they made their ways into their homes, to their lovers or to just grab a drink or four.

Kakashi leaned back on the terrace floor and put his hands under his head before lifting his eye to observe the dark sky above them. The day had been both excruciating and fun on most parts, save the constant ache they both felt in their bodies. They had fulfilled the tasks given to them obediently, missing a stretch or two occasionally by accident, and the samples were ready for Tsunade-sama's visit for the next day, and his ego was once again content due to his latest win. Yet the copy-nin had a feeling that something was amiss here. The gray eye glanced at the tanned man still nursing his head.

"Iruka-sensei."

"Mm-hmm?"

"How do you actually feel when you fight with me?"

The dark eyes, almost black in the night's shadows, landed on the gray one and the teacher shifted a little in order to lean against the beam behind him. The tanned face was unreadable for a while before Iruka cocked an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that, Kakashi-san?"

"..Ah, well, you know, me being the elite and all that", Kakashi shrugged awkwardly. "I mean, you don't seem to be afraid of me even when many others are."

"Ah. That." Iruka's lips tilted into a small smile. "What gives you the impression that I'm not?"

Now that was an answer Kakashi didn't expect. He propped himself on his elbows and studied the man in front of him before his gray eye turned into a flat look. "You're mean to me."

The bright bark of laughter echoed at the small backyard as well in the empty rooms of the training house and once again the famous sharingan user had the questionable privilege to witness Umino Iruka on the verge of hysterics. The tanned man laughed hard and loud for a good few minutes before he winced and yet again pressed the ice pack against his head while wiping his eyes with his other hand. The brown eyes turned to look at the disgruntled jounin with amusement and the sensei stifled a chuckle behind his hand as the look he received took a turn to honest malevolence.

"And..and how does that give you the impression that I'm not afraid of you?" Iruka had a hard time to keep the guffaws to himself when he was faced with the pouting elite. Really, that man was the walking nightmare to most shinobi, both foe and ally, and here he was, a mere teacher, seeing the same man sulk like a five-year-old.

"Since most persons know they wouldn't live any longer if they pissed me off. Yet you just seem to gain more spark in your system everytime we fight, sensei", Kakashi said with a rather flat tone even though he was slightly fuming in his mind. Damn that teacher and the man's own inside jokes on his expense. Maybe if he could someday use his sharingan on that bastard he could see what made the man so confident that he had no qualms on laughing his ass off in front of Hatake Kakashi, moreover _at_ Hatake Kakashi.

"Saa, but that doesn't mean that I'm not scared of you on some degree, Kakashi-san. Maybe that's actually the key factor as to why I want to fight with you. Have you ever considered that option?" Iruka cocked an eyebrow and glanced at the sky above them, admiring the starry darkness as well enjoying the blissful silence that was sweet music to his ears for the full three seconds it lasted. Small joys.

"Why would you train with a man who you're scared of?" With all due respect to the life and its twisted sense of irony, the jounin felt more than just baffled at that moment. Why would Iruka have willingly sought him out months ago in order to beat the crap out of him after his latest stunt if the man was afraid of him?

"I just do. It's as simple as that", Iruka said and gave a small shrug. "And it's easier to not hold back when fighting with a more or less stranger rather than sparring with a close friend, even though we've become more like acquaintances nowadays. Besides, you're a really good sensei, Kakashi-san, with all things considered", and with that Iruka gave a pointy look at the two Icha Ichas lying next to Kakashi.

"But that would also make you to push yourself harder than you should, sensei", Kakashi said slowly and sat up on the wooden floorboards in order to cast a more serious gaze at the teacher who gave a small shrug on that argument. "You're doing it now as well, even when you know you're a fine opponent as you are and I won't hold your rank against you. Except to rile you up occasionally."

Iruka gave a snort at that, he knew perfectly well how good ammo the other man had against his ego. "I know. But that's what we've been fixing for the last months among the other things, neh?" He said and turned once again to look at the sky.

Kakashi followed his gaze and fiddled his fingers on his lap. The teacher was right, that was the first thing they started to work with after their initial match back then as soon as Iruka had been able to walk properly again. And the man had improved quite well from there, Kakashi gave him that, but they were still missing something vital for Iruka to really feel confident enough as Kakashi's sparring partner in order to stop abusing his body that much.

"..I'm also aware of the huge gap we have between us, Kakashi-san, and I'm not trying to cover it...but to make myself a little bit more compatible for what it comes to battles..that would be more than sufficient." Kakashi's ears perked on the surprisingly somber voice and as he turned to look at the man he saw the teacher unwrap the healing bandage from his head and fold it into a neat bundle. The cinnamon lips were drawn into a grim line and the dark eyes were pensive, as if the man was carefully assessing his next words. "I want to be able to protect the others more than I have been capable of. Not to mention the one in particular."

The evening sounds filled the otherwise silent air as the two shinobi let the words float into the vast sky expanding over the village they both held dear. They both knew the trying times were on their way as soon as the most hyperactive ninja [2] ever trained to this profession came back through the front gates, as well they knew they'd do all they could to help the kid on his way to achieve his dreams.

The sudden clicking sound shook Kakashi out of his heavy thoughts and his gaze sought out the sensei who had somehow managed to sneak on the other side of him. What made the gray eye widen and the silver eyebrows twitch rather violently wasn't the evil smirk on that bruised face, but the seemingly innocent-looking wooden box that had swallowed his beloved books. Iruka slowly backed at the dark yard with the box under his arm as the thundering glare followed his every step and the jounin's muscles tensed visibly. The crazy smirk on the chuunin's face said it all.

"I'm not above messing with your porn collection either."

As the night fell the citizens of Konoha were blissfully unaware how considerate their Hokage had been when she designed the soundproof barrier around the small, seemingly harmless-looking house which filled with the echoes of loud cries, shouts, foul curses, mad laughter and crashing sounds as the two shinobi, both regarded as the most professional and responsible among their peers, fell into a frenzied game of tag involving a wooden box, two porn books, bag of ice, two meters of bandage and an unfortunate tea pot.

QQQ

_AN: Three's a charm, neh? Number four in progress._

_[1] The best sound to describe when Iruka-sensei snaps, can be witnessed in the very first episode in the Naruto series. Still gives the giggles._  
_[2] Been bumping into this description about Naruto a lot in the past, and it's just simply genius with its contradiction. Whoever thought about it first, you have my respect._


	4. Day 3

_AN: Thank you all again for the reviews and also favoriting and following this little tale, it has been a great pleasure to know that these scribblings meet their audience. Enjoy the new chapter._

Day 3: Mind the man and his mind, mr. ninja

"...If I ever, I repeat, _ever_ see or hear that healing bandage being used for something else than patching up your asses I swear I'll make that blond brat a Hokage before he could even blink just so that I could shove those comforters up into those bruised hineys so deep they'll make your throats itch. Do I make myself clear?"

The very unwilling muttering ticked off the second last nerve from the owner of the glaring amber eyes as they narrowed further with a promise of a swiftly served knuckle sandwich with all extra toppings. "_What?_"

"Yes, Hokage-sama", came the sullen response.

Tsunade sighed heavily and rubbed her temples. Not that she hadn't expected them to damage either themselves or the house on the very first days, since it was the doom duo they were talking about, but never before had she wished so much to still be a detached kunoichi who had nothing to do with her village.

Then she could kill these two on the spot.

These two, who were dragged to the terrace from their futons by a firm hold on their ears the instant their leader had had a good glimpse of what seemed to be the remnants of an impromptu game of tag apparently modified with bits from hide and seek and dodge ball. Seeing the splintered remains of a small wooden box on the training room's floor and two neatly cut halves of a tea pot being embed into the ceiling, not to mention the condition of the healing bandage the ANBU found from the flooded bathroom, was all the inspiration for her to give the sleeping shinobi a bit harsher wake-up call than she first had intended to.

Although she could never have thought that the two of her finest shinobi can look so utterly miserable and adorable at the same time as both the silver and brown heads hung down in shame and the men hid further inside their comforters they had managed to hold on during the nasty awakening. Iruka had a big bruise on his temple which was half-covered by a hilariously tousled bush of brown hair sticking to all possible directions and another smaller one decorating his furiously blushing cheekbone, whereas Kakashi's lower part of the face may really need a mask if the two bruises on his forehead and a swollen masked cheek were anything to go by. The men were disgruntled, humiliated, ashamed and the red and slightly swollen right ears of both men that were still carrying the imprints of her fingers gave the grand finishing touch on the rather exquisite sight.

A sight which proved to be a bit too much for her at seven a.m.

The men gave wary glances towards their leader who leaned back as sudden loud guffaws shook her frame and furthermore provided the two men a rather disturbing view on how bouncy can two scantily covered mounds of flesh really be when given the right impulse. Iruka leaned carefully a bit closer to the other man and looked at Kakashi while his hands moved quickly and discreetly in the shinobi sign language.

_She snapped. We should run.  
__  
If you think you can outrun a snapped sannin then you're in a way fitter condition than I have seen so far, sensei._

_If I leave you as a sacrifice then I just might, bastard._

_Maa, maa, that's not nice._

_...Did you just sign 'maa, maa' to me?_

_Created them myself. Nifty, neh?_

_You've created a sign for it?!_

_As you apparently have refined your signs to withhold extra exclamation marks. Please don't ever teach Gai that. The constant thumb-upping is enough._

"What are you two signing so eagerly over there?" The half-annoyed voice made them both snap their hands back underneath the folds of their blankets, since there was no telling what Tsunade might do to them if she managed to catch their wrists, injured subordinates or not. They both valued their hands and fingers in order to continue in their profession. Not that it stopped Kakashi from twisting Iruka's wrists couple of times in the middle of their game the previous evening, nor preventing Iruka from creating an impressive (and surprisingly painful) knot with the healing bandage on copy-nin's middle fingers before unleashing a freezing hell down the silver-haired man's neck.

Kakashi will never again flip off at the teacher without having either a thick wall of steel or Ibiki between them.

The ANBU who grunted from the work of patching up the damaged wall seemed to agree with him.

"Now then, the threats and scolding aside. I saw you two have given your samples and they're all in the fridge." Tsunade stood up and stepped over to Kakashi's other side and sat down. She peeled the comforter off the man and gave his form an examining look. "Did you follow the instructions? Do the seals work?"

"Yes, we followed the book, Tsunade-sama", Iruka answered while he looked curiously at their leader who poked tentatively one rather sizable bruise on the jounin's upper arm and was watching the masked face for any pained winces. Then she started to scan the ex-ANBU's body with her hands to see where to start the healing.

"The seals seem to work fine as well, Hokage-sama", Kakashi nodded, albeit a bit ticked from the poking. "At least neither of us has collapsed due to chakra depletion, eh, sensei?" He turned to give a small amused glance at his counterpart.

The ripe plum tone looked rather fetching on the man in the morning glow.

"..Indeed, Hatake-san", Iruka muttered and turned his narrowed eyes to look at the silently cursing ANBU who had finished his repair works on the training room's walls and doors and was currently trying to clean up the mess they've made. It seemed that those tea pot halves were quite efficiently stuck to the ceiling and the tanned teacher was pretty sure that those weren't the correct hand seals for getting them down either.

Unfortunately by turning his head he drew the attention of the amber eyes briefly to himself.

"...My, my. I knew you are at it like cats and dogs but to really use your claws and teeth, Kakashi-kun? I didn't know you fight so dirty when there's no chakra to rely on", Tsunade tutted as her eyes took a mischievous and lecherous glint in them. The instant when Kakashi's head snapped back to look at Iruka the teacher slammed his hand to cover the teeth marks as the fierce red blush took over his cheeks and the neck he had already forgotten to pay any attention to, since he was very tired and further mangled when they hit the beds the previous night.

The feeling of the intensive gaze boring into his figure made an unexpected heat rise rapidly within the chuunin's body.

"...Maa, you know how feisty our sensei can be, Hokage-sama. He has impressive fangs when one gets him to show them, you know", Kakashi drawled in amused manner, the man being obviously far too eager to attend his own funeral.

The burning look he received by the even more so narrowed dark eyes did wonders to one's self-preservation instincts and after a fleeting moment Kakashi realized he had unconsciously tucked his nether regions under the much thicker folds of his blanket. Good that Tsunade was there to heal them, he might then be only half-dead after the passionate sensei was through with him.

"...I'll make some tea and coffee, Hokage-sama", the irritated teacher said calmly and stood up and out from beneath his comforter before limping to the kitchen with all the dignity his flaring temper could pull together for it as his hand was still firmly clutching the patch of skin on his red neck.

Tsunade gave a soft snort and Kakashi felt her to start healing his right shoulder blade. "How are you doing with him beside pissing him off constantly?"

"Maa, that we do quite equally, you know. That man is evil."

"He's also a highly needed shinobi, who you're not allowed to break, brat."

"Well he seems quite eager to do that to me, with all due respect. He stole my books again yesterday, so basically I was more than entitled to take them back by force, thus I'm not the one at fault here", Kakashi huffed and for the second Tsunade wondered if that was indeed a whine she heard. Then an amused chuckle found its way to the woman's lips.

"I thought there wouldn't be anything left in you to get broken, brat."

"Hey! That's harsh, Hokage-sama", Kakashi could feel an indignant flush appear on his thankfully masked cheeks. He may act like an overly professional and unhealthily cold and detached know-it-all asshole or an all-around-pervert frequently when accompanying certain people, moreover a certain anal firecracker, but that didn't mean he was all foreign to friendly treatment.

The barely swallowed snort from the training room spoke volumes.

"I still need him so keep that killing intent at bay, brat", Tsunade's sharp order snapped Kakashi out of his sudden homicidal urges and instead of disemboweling some black-ops and serving the dish out of the irritating porcelain mask he slowly turned to look at the firm hand holding his right arm in place and then at his body that was healed for the most part. He felt his ribs and shoulders and turned his head from one side to other, noting that it didn't hurt as much anymore.

"Huh. Thank you, Tsunade-sama. Though why not heal all the injuries?" He asked as he took note on all the places that still hurt considerately. That fourth vertebra on his spine really liked to remind him of his past missions.

"That would defeat the goal of this mission. That's why", Tsunade sat a bit away from him on his other side and folded Iruka's comforter in order to sit on it. Kakashi had a fleeting thought that the temperamental sensei may have an opinion or two about people who sit on his property without asking first, even if he used it only temporarily, but decided to see what the day had yet to offer. Plus being a killjoy was also acting against the well-known unwritten protocol of Konoha jounin, and Kakashi wasn't one to violate the sacred packs.

Tsunade gave a brief look at the backyard and the fence surrounding it, the wooden wall casting a long shadow towards the house in the slowly brightening morning light. "If I would heal all your wounds then your bodies would be deceived to think that you could continue like you used to. It's important for this mission to really train both your body and mind in order to honestly see if you slowly develop new fighting styles or improve yourselves otherwise on some levels. Biting someone's neck may not be the most civil and smoothest way to start doing it, but as long as you two stay alive I'll just let you do what you want." Kakashi didn't like that hidden layer of amusement in the woman's voice. Clearly that wasn't all she had wanted to say and he as sure as hell wasn't feeling suicidal enough to ask about it as he heard the faint footsteps approach from the direction of their kitchen.

"Here you go, tea for two and coffee for the canine", Iruka set the small tray between himself and the other two. As Iruka eased himself down on the wooden floor, Kakashi noticed the teacher had gone and healed his gnawed neck on his own. No wonder it took him time to make the drinks. The moment when Iruka noticed Tsunade sitting on his blanket Kakashi saw a rapidly forming scowl on the tan face which just as quickly faded back into a calm-looking mask. Apparently the teacher was good at hiding his thoughts when he chose to, as well as the jounin who chose to be completely aloof in social situations when it suited him best. After all the months of more or less ambivalently forming camaraderie the men still seemed to offer surprises to one another. No wonder the jounin still loitered around the academy teacher, and Kakashi had to admit that the chuunin may have filled a hollow spot or two with his fiery presence. Which was something he'll never even imply to the well-known tyrant of the mission room, even though the blushes that the thought action may cause would make up for getting punched through the nearest wall, window or desk. Or all of them if the floor planning fit the moment. The smooth voice caught his attention and Kakashi turned his eye from the fence wall to the other two persons sitting with him in the morning light.

"I do have a few questions concerning this mission, though. Why do we actually need to take the blood samples, Tsunade-sama? I thought it was the use of chakra and our fighting we were supposed to monitor, not our metabolism." Iruka ever so smoothly offered Kakashi his coffee while at the same time his other hand discreetly turned the small tray just so that Tsunade couldn't detect any foul play as she concentrated on the teacher's words. Kakashi, however, took his time to find the reason for the odd gesture, and noted that the other cup's tea was just a hint more yellow than springy green. So the man had misbrewed the other cup which he had intended first to drink himself. For the ones not knowing any better it wouldn't have been such a big deal, but Kakashi had learned that on Iruka's scale offering badly brewed tea was equivalent of announcing a war, and the copy-nin had to inhale his coffee's aromas fervently for a second to push away the bubbling chortle that was trying very hard to push through his nose and mouth.

If he ever needed an expert on subtle warfare tactics he knew where to look.

Tsunade took the tea Iruka offered her and gave it a long sniff with a satisfied sigh. Kakashi amused himself by watching how the dark, slender brow rose ever so lightly on the otherwise unreadable face before the chuunin busied himself with his own cup while casting a brief, dark and efficiently silencing look over the porcelain edge at the lightning user sitting across him. Kakashi gave a soft hum and winked happily at the glaring man. That chuunin really seemed to have more than five senses in him.

"It actually does concern your metabolism, Iruka-sensei." Tsunade's musing words snatched their attention and they turned to look at the surprisingly concentrated-looking Hokage. She took a small sip on her tea and swirled the liquid in the small cup. "Since there's only one record I found on this training method it isn't said that it wouldn't have nasty side effects on shinobi who try it. I know you two have been using a similar method before this, but it has always lasted only for a few hours, as this on the other hand will last for the whole month. I need to be able to detect all possible threats there might be for your metabolism and hormonal functions in order to stop this experiment from backfiring badly if it ever should come to that. That's why I have to keep an eye on you."

"What side effects would you mean, Tsunade-sama?" Iruka's eyebrows rose slightly at the woman's words, he had never even considered that their training seals could still do some damage after he so carefully created them to suite the methods they used. Had he still missed some crucial details on them?

"Basically everything at this point. That's why it's also good that you two have been training together before, since I need you to also monitor one another beside yourselves. If the other shows any signs of something being wrong, contact either me or Shizune immediately. The ANBU have been informed about this mission so they also have a direct communication channel to you if you can't reach anybody else. You will not delay contacting me, no matter how insignificant the symptom is, do you understand me, brat?" With that Tsunade gave Kakashi a very strict look.

Kakashi frowned behind his coffee and then turned to stare flatly at the sniggering sensei who desperately tried to hide his grin behind his tea cup. "Exactly why do you specify that order at me only?"

Tsunade gave him the flattest look she usually had reserved for only two other shinobis who were both currently away from the village. "Since you have the pride bigger than your dick and brain combined, brat."

After that it was no use for Iruka to hold his laughter in any longer.

Q

"Take these to the examination room and tell Shizune that I'll join them shortly", Tsunade said with a smile and gave the ANBU the sample box after the nin had finally finished patching up the training house and refilling the kitchen cupboards and fridge with food. The ANBU nodded at her and with a small salute he vanished. Tsunade turned to look at the double trouble who were watching her by the front door, both in seemingly better shape than in the early morning after being healed for the most parts.

"Is there something else on your minds that you'd want to discuss before I leave?" She looked at the book that had appeared in Iruka's hands and then the hesitant looks she received. Her lips tilted into a small smile. "You tried to open the seals in the book, didn't you, Iruka-kun?"

"Ah, well..when you put it that way, Hokage-sama..." Iruka ducked his head and scratched at his scar with a sheepish smile. "I just noticed that there was something strange about it and, well, may have spent a moment or two figuring it out." The silent snicker behind his back turned into a pained hiss as his heel found the silver-bastard's toes. Jounin and their infamous reflexes his tanned ass, even Udon could have dodged from that assault point.

"I suggest that you won't worry yourselves with those seals, they're thoughtfully designed to meet your needs when the correct moment comes. Just follow its instructions and try to remember performing the stretches, your shoulders were stiffer than they should be. If you can do taijutsu then you should be able to manhandle each other as well without trying to kill the other all the time. And for kami's sake mind the house, otherwise I'll have you both sleep in a very, very crammed tent for the rest of the month." She could feel her lips stretch into a playful smirk at the scandalized looks on the two men. It seemed that the brat had still vivid memories of his mission with Asuma a few months ago, since she could think no other explanation for the haunted look in the usually arrogant one eye. Shinobi or not, they were still like kids when it came to the basics of reward and punishment. Something to remember in days to come.

"Yes, Hokage-sama", came the hasty mutual response.

"Good. Let me know whenever there's anything troubling you. You know where to find me." With that she turned and waved casually before exiting the front gate of the house, leaving the pair of shinobi stand by the door in thoughtful silence. After a moment it was Kakashi to turn his eye to the darker man next to him who was once again examining the small book.

"Iruka-sensei?"

"Hmm?"

"You do realize that we've just had an audience with the Hokage while wearing nothing else than sweaty, torn tank tops and dirty boxers?"

The dark eyes cast a brief look at their demeanor.

"...Get the bells ready, Kakashi-san."

Q

They observed each other from across the training room. The dark eyes eyed the pale frame for a moment before Iruka leaned down and dashed to the side before rounding the older man in hopes for reaching his goal before the man caught up with his plan. Kakashi smirked under his mask and danced away from the snatching hands, keeping his glinting prize safely away from those wicked fingers. Then the older man stopped, took Iruka's hand, spun around and threw the teacher over his shoulder. Iruka grunted on the hard impact with the tatami mat and jerked his hand away from the other's hold only to be pinned to the floor by two knees slamming on his shoulders. Kakashi smiled from above and gracefully leaned over the teacher's body in order to take what was his.

Iruka growled and used the sudden change of his position for his advantage as he suddenly pulled his legs over his stomach and plunged them against Kakashi's chest. The copy-nin managed to lessen their impact by putting his hands between on time but the unorthodox kick was still efficient enough and sent him falling on his side. Iruka freed himself from underneath the older man and scrambled on his knees before the awaited fist came sailing through the air towards him. The teacher managed to take a hold on the hand and block the other as well, and once again the men found themselves immersing in a staring competition.

After a while Iruka realized that the inventive prick had slowly added his body weight on him and was leaning quite heavily against his hold. His arms were already trembling under the added weight and the teacher could see the smug, victorious glint in that gray eye. In one swift movement Kakashi pushed his body forward while yanking his hands free and reversing their hold as he all but forced the hastily retreating chuunin beneath him on the floor, pinning the man once again with his one hand and putting him into a rather agonizing position with the tanned legs bent under the lean body. He snatched the bell and gave the panting teacher a smirk.

"Gotcha, sensei."

The eye-roll was all he got for his troubles.

Q

"Want some asparagus to go with the fish?"

"Sure", Kakashi said and took the offered greens in order to prepare them to be boiled. Iruka took a taste of the glazing before he offered the other man a spoonful as well and shifted his eyes to look elsewhere while the silver-haired man tasted the flavor.

"I never would've thought that ANBU delivered groceries as well", the tanned man chuckled at the memory of the slightly awkward-looking elite stocking up their kitchen.

"You'd be surprised, sensei. ANBU doesn't flinch when it comes to mundane tasks. I've even done a hefty amount of D-ranks myself back when I was younger." Kakashi smiled a little at those memories, although being a little pain in the ass for his peers was also one reason why he ended up with lots of tasks involving old ladies and babysitting the nobles' children in times without assassinations or other dangerous missions. But then again, he learned many new skills from those bland missions, such as how to peel and chop vegetables. Furthermore without a kunai. That was an embarrassing incident for a ten-year-old and the man rubbed briefly his right thumb as the long forgotten and already vanished wound spot itched irritably.

"Really?" Iruka looked at Kakashi with renewed, albeit not so innocent, curiosity. "You really managed to bend that stiff neck of yours for those jobs?" Iruka knew the man had done quite a lot for his village ever since the destined child prodigy became a genin, but the combination of mundane and Kakashi weren't exactly the first thought factors in any equations within the boundaries of the Fire Country, and he was quite sure it applied with the rest of the countries as well. The Bingo Book would never be the same if it ever came down to that, and the chuunin couldn't resist a snicker or two for his spontaneous hypothesis of what it would actually read in the notorious book if all the S-class secrets came open, and in his mind seeing the book with an image of the infamous copy-nin wearing a white apron with paw prints didn't do much to lessen the hilarity of his current thoughts.

"For your information, _'The pain of thousand years'_ has other variations too, sensei", came the calm notification and the teacher knew when to re-check one's safety measures. Thus he also knew perfectly well when to go down all the way.

"Then how would you like the rice this time, wifey?"

Q

"Alright, good...can you make it bend just a bit more?"

He assumed the grunt was the meant reply to him. He took a firmer hold both onto the tan shoulder with his hand and on the tan arm with the other and bent the arm back as slowly as he could while he observed Iruka as the tanned man tried to stay put. The sounds of noon echoed over the fence and circled the silent pair who stood in the backyard, the empty plates and glasses forgotten on the terrace.

Kakashi gave a small squeeze on the slightly tensing shoulder and Iruka nodded amidst his deep breathing. He felt the muscles twitch and then settle again under his hand and the silver-haired man nodded to himself before bending the arm further back. A quiet hiss escaped his counterpart's lips and they stood still for a moment before Kakashi slowly brought the arm back to Iruka's side and took a hold on the other shoulder and the quietly offered arm.

"Ready, sensei?"

Q

"I wonder how long it'll actually take for our bodies to adjust in this situation." Iruka thought aloud while putting the washed dishes back into the cupboards.

"I'd guess it'll happen either tomorrow or the day after. Although we're trained shinobi so basically it should happen even today, but I dare to doubt it since yesterday the muscles were in bad shape and we still ended up pushing them too far", Kakashi answered by the terrace door and held the silver bells in his hand. The gray eye scanned the hustling figure that moved in their kitchen and Kakashi was quite pleased to note that Iruka was in higher spirits than the previous day. Even though he wasn't sure if that was such a good thing, since during their acquaintance he had learned the warning signs of a beaming Umino as well the more or less safe distances that needed to be taken then if one wanted to have all their appendages still attached on their bodies.

Iruka wiped his hands clean and then stepped to take the bell from the other man before they went to the training room. They attached the bells on their sweatpants and stretched their backs and legs curtly. As Kakashi finished his stretches Iruka had already set the timer and the dark brown eyes were gazing him keenly. The ex-ANBU gave a nod and made the first move.

In an instant Kakashi was over the younger man, chasing him around the room as he made attempts on the bell. They both knew the first few minutes were plainly just for warming up but that didn't stop them from having fun all the way. Iruka slapped the quick hands away, stood abruptly in front of Kakashi, nose to nose, and blew a small puff of air into his masked face before aiming a hit at the man's stomach with his accurate fist. Kakashi blocked the fist with his hands and Iruka pulled away from him before he surged again at him, the tanned man obviously going for Kakashi's blind spot. Kakashi spun around and sent the teacher staggering past him, then took hold of one arm, yanked the teacher back and threw him over his shoulder once again. Iruka recovered quickly amidst his travel over the pale body, twisted his own body into the right angle and landed gracefully on his feet. The chuunin then nimbly reversed their grips joining their hands and pulled the older nin down as he used the man as a leverage to pull himself up. Kakashi resisted the strong pull as well as he could and yanked his hand away as soon as the teacher had stood back up before the man would use their joined hands further against him. Iruka instantly made several sharp jabs at Kakashi's bell, the concentration burning in his dark brown eyes for Kakashi's delighted note, and the older man was more than thrilled to give the other a good challenge. He blocked, attacked and chased the younger shinobi, all the while keeping an eye on the other. After last night's conversation he felt a bit confused, to be completely honest, since he couldn't understand Iruka's train of thought. Why would anybody approach someone they were afraid of? What was in Kakashi that Iruka was afraid of?

"You're spacing out, Kakashi-san. Should we stop for a moment?" The slightly worried, smooth voice snapped his thoughts back to the present and he realized that Iruka had taken him into an impressive hold from behind his back, keeping a firm grip on the pale hands crossed over Kakashi's stomach on the dark gray sleeveless singlet. The man hadn't touched the silver bell just inches away from his fingers, though. Pays off to play with a teacher; dirty tricks weren't allowed if the counterpart hadn't been fully present in the situation. Kakashi turned his head in order to give a reassuring wink at the chuunin over his shoulder.

"Maa, you're just taking so long that I decided to take a nap. Miscounted the morning tea dose for being so sluggish, sensei?"

That man sure could sizzle. Iruka snarled, tightened his grip all around the man and for a moment Kakashi could count his ribs with each passing second as they wailed under the iron hold. The jounin struggled and wriggled against the hold while he tried to keep his lower body safely away from those again active fingers reaching for the red thread. Suddenly he noticed being roughly manhandled against a wall with a loud thump, accompanied by a slightly amusing feeling of _déjà vu, _and he felt Iruka let go of his other hand while the chuunin pressed his body heavily against the older man in obvious hopes for keeping the bastard still enough to get the bell from him.

A fatal mistake.

Kakashi took hold of the reaching hand, stepped promptly on Iruka's foot and with the sliver of space created by his actions between him and the wall, he pulled his other hand up against the wall and all but pushed them away from it. Then he spun around on his heels while he twisted the captured hand behind Iruka's back as the other man suddenly found himself being pulled around and then forced against the same wall face first. Iruka's free hand succeeded to cover his precious bell before the pale fingers could lay themselves on it, and the men stilled for a moment, both panting and sweating due to the day's activities.

"How do you enjoy the architecture, sensei?" Kakashi mused next to a tanned ear.

"Fuuff off, Kakshhsaff."

"Maa, didn't quite catch that. Care to repeat?" A low, dangerous mixture of growling and muffled cursing reached his perked ears. Interesting. "This would be a good time to wash that dirty mouth of yours. Shame that I can't do any jutsus now. But-", he leaned closer to the struggling man, "you've already made a bad mistake by letting me get behind your back so easily. Way too easily, in fact." He pressed his body further against his captive, pressed his thighs against the other set and felt the hands between their bodies squeeze further against the chuunin's back and his abdomen and the hands against the wall having more pressure on them while his brain worked on wondering what the other had in mind after getting caught so effortlessly. They had still ten minutes left, which was puzzling for Kakashi since usually the chuunin had lasted way longer than now. It was too easy.

Kakashi knew better to dislike things being too easy.

He ducked his head closer to the other's neck and for a second his eyes gazed over the tanned skin that just a few hours ago had his teeth marks on it. "What are you up to, sensei?" He wondered half-aloud, feeling something stir in his gut.

The thick silence that suddenly hung on them wasn't helping at all.

"...Saa, is getting lost in the road of life so bad, Kakashi-san?" Iruka had slowly managed to dislodge his mouth from the ill-tasting wall, and Kakashi frowned on the foreign tone of the usually mellow voice. Then he caught the cunning look in the chuunin's eyes and knew that he really did know better.

That little minx was playing time.

Iruka smirked, pushed his hips forcefully against Kakashi's other hand still trapped between the chuunin and the wall as his captured hand behind his back had subtly weaved its way towards the price on Kakashi's hips when the older man hadn't payed enough attention to it. The red thread snapped off as Kakashi jerked his hand from around the teacher and thus moved his body sharply in the process before he realized what had happened. The chuunin turned around with his one hand still caught in the jounin's grip and leaned his back against the wall with a smug smirk on his lips as the small silver bell dangled from his fingers in his hand that was held between them. His victory didn't last long, though, and the smirk fell as the teacher started to realize there to be an empty space beneath his hand that was still clutched on his hip.

Kakashi raised his hand and gave him a wide smirk as the lost bell emerged from his closed fist and dangled in the air in a mockingly same style as chuunin held his bell. The deep, annoyed blush was well worth the stunt.

Iruka rolled his eyes at the annoying genius but couldn't help as a bit wider smile found its way on his lips. He sighed and dropped the bell to his opponent's waiting hand before straightening up and dislodging his hand from the pale one.

"Care for a short break, Kakashi-san? I could kill for a tea now."

Kakashi heard himself chuckle smoothly at the chosen words. "Best to give you that tea then, sensei."

"Wise decision", the teacher grinned and strolled to the kitchen, leaving one pensive jounin alone in the silent training room.

Q

Iruka pulled the needle out and put the full vial back into the small new sample box they were given before Tsunade left that morning. Then he took the box back into the fridge and as he came back he saw Kakashi attach the sleeve back to his jacket. The chuunin sat down next to the jounin and the sounds of early evening wafted in the air while the empty dishes of the eaten dinner were on a small tray some feet away waiting to be washed as the jounin settled happily to read his daily fix of adult literature and the teacher worked on the seals of the small notebook.

"You'll never get those seals open, you know", an amused voice teased behind the porn.

"Care to make a bet on that, Kakashi-san?"

"Hmm?"

"If I manage to get them open, you'll do something for me. How does that sound?" Iruka turned to give a challenging look at the man laying next to him. The thin travel porn book was lowered and a curious one-eyed look was cast to his direction.

"And what if you lose?"

He hadn't thought of that. The teacher tapped his chin with the book and for a few minutes considered the pros and cons of actually forming a bet with the superior nin. The wages should be equal, so that it would indeed benefit the winner but also it shouldn't be too much for the loser. He raised a brow and gave a small smile at the man next to him. "Is the same deal good for you as well?"

"You mean you doing something for me when I win?"

"_In case_ you win, asshole. Are you in or not?"

The older man hummed in thought for a minute and looked at his porn book with considering air around him, and in that moment the teacher realized that it would have been wise to elaborate on the conditions of the bet. Iruka gave a better look at the older man and his perverted book, and to his surprise for the shortest second he found himself questioning the need to elaborate anything concerning what the other might suggest if he won. The small notebook felt suddenly heavier in his hands and for some reason his cheeks felt as hot as they did when he healed his neck that morning. Before he knew it, his hand touched the patch of once bitten skin and not for the first time the teacher had to wonder if his teas really were meddled with by someone.

Kakashi looked over at the peculiarly silent man and the silver brows frowned at the troubled look on the chuunin's face. Maybe the teacher was scared that he'd ask something scandalous from him should he win their bet. The passing thought seemed to trigger a synapse or two in his brain and without a second thought the jounin rose slowly to sit up as his muscles felt suddenly very restless and unwilling to keep under his brain's command. Iruka stirred slightly as the man apparently sensed his presence near him and the tension that had once vanished between them was back in an instant.

In a blink of an eye one particularly loud cry about Spring and Youth cut through the air, shattering the strange ambiance that had fallen on them once again as they both fell immobile and silent as the dead while they waited with baited breaths for the imminent appearance of the person they hadn't missed a day after starting the mission. After a moment they glanced at each other in shocked awe as the demon in garish green against all odds seemed to have moved away to a safe distance from the fence and they released the breaths they had held on reflex. Then the breaths turned into chuckles, then into an outright laughter, and thus they were both quite happy about the fact that they couldn't be heard nor seen from the street at that particular moment as they both gasped for air desperately and fell on their backs on the hard wood of the terrace.

"That..now, that..was..!" Kakashi panted and tried to grasp on the words escaping his hysteric mind. Not that the very red-faced chuunin was any helpful on that matter.

"That, that...oh, kami, I love you, Hokage-sama! Thank you!" Iruka shouted in the air and gave a mighty whoop with an enthusiastic fist pump, reminding the jounin about the blonde genin who was currently traveling somewhere with a perverted toad and whose reaction to ramen was remarkably similar as the tanned sensei's just then. Kakashi lifted his hand amidst his panting and Iruka gave him a high-five while they both grinned like maniacs.

Never had they thought it possible to have a month with no stress of constantly failing to outrun the all too loud green man with a serious neuroses for thumbs, challenges and shiny teeth.

Q

"So, are you game then, sensei?"

Iruka looked at the shadow of the other man on the wall and raised a brow. "Am I game?"

"You know, the bet you wanted us to take", Kakashi shrugged and folded the pants on his bed before tying the towel around his waist in order to remove his boxers. Not that he was a prude, or anything even close to that word, but for some vain reason he actually preferred not to let the tanned pain in his pale ass see his current boxer briefs with tiny shurikens on them.

The resulting teasing would be endless.

"Oh, that. Well, do you accept the wages?" Iruka asked and took off his hair band before stepping to the corridor while wearing only his towel. The older man was already wearing his shower mask as he stepped to the corridor as well and followed the teacher to the bathroom.

"Why not, it does sound interesting enough. Besides, you have the whole month to work on the book, or at least until the last one pops, so we even have a proper time limit for it. Plus it'll give me more time to read my books in peace when you struggle with them instead of commenting on my reading material all the time", the jounin mused while they took off their towels and headed for the shower stalls with the stained glass wall between them.

Iruka snorted and rolled his eyes as he turned the faucets. "If you think a few seals will keep this chuunin's mouth shut about your dirty books then you have another thing coming, jounin-san."

"Then I'll just have to use one of those seals to shut you up, don't I, sensei?" Came the equally sly answer from the other side of the glass wall. "Maybe just taping the book against that eager mouth would do the trick, since the wall seemed to work well enough."

"Speaking of which, I hope the ANBU really knew how to patch up a wall since the plaster tasted very weird. Pass the shampoo, will you?" Iruka reached his hand to the other side and got the asked bottle. He took the amount of shampoo he needed and passed the bottle back on the other's side before scrubbing his scalp vigorously and thoroughly. He liked his hair as it was but it was a pain to wash and sort out whenever it chose to tangle into a mess while sparring.

"For some reason I doubt that any ANBU would be twisted enough to try to poison an academic teacher with wall putty. Although...nope, it would be just me if anybody tried that on you, sensei", Kakashi chuckled happily as he washed the slightly dried sweat away from his body. Being mostly on missions that required keeping still in a forest, desert or the mountains in every available crook there was to be used made the simple joys like taking a shower feel like divine luxury for the sharingan user. Having a clean body was pure bliss.

"I'll keep that in mind the next time I ask for renovation help, might be even wise to give Genma a taste on all the paints and caulks before using them, just to be on the safe side", Iruka smirked widely on his side and gave a sideway glance at the chuckling dark figure behind the glass wall before rinsing himself off and stepping out of the shower. A faint popping sound reached his ears and they both stilled on reflex for a moment. They both knew that sound and knew the implications connected to it as well. Iruka quickly tied the towel he had grabbed on his waist and strode to their bedroom heading straight to the small notebook that had flopped open on his futon. Of all the things that had been circling in his mind as the possible next task from the book, the tiny object now laying on his linen was beyond his most twisted sense of humor, and that was a lot from a man who was well-acquainted with the craziest nins of the hidden village.

"...Maa. That's..Well", said the slightly confused, low voice behind the teacher by the bedroom doors as he leaned over his bed.

"...You can say that again", Iruka muttered and took the small bottle in his hand to carefully read the label on it while the nauseating feeling of dread settled at the bottom of his stomach.

She had sent them massage oil.

Q

After dressing up, the men had settled in the kitchen to eat their evening snack before hitting the bed. After last night they didn't feel like staying up so long and after a small discussion they deemed their training clothes being so close to be used as chemical warfare that washing them was necessary for the sake of their mission and preserving their sense of smell. So there they stood, both dressed in their dark uniform pants and loose shirts, eating fish sandwiches and drinking their hot drinks while the laundry machine thrummed peacefully beneath the kitchen counter [1].

All of their thoughts being focused on that damned little bottle placed on a shelf mere twenty feet away behind the bathroom doors.

Kakashi munched on the bite that had been lolling in his mouth for a while now and took a brief look at the bristled man leaning against the counter a couple of feet away and who was seemingly killing his sandwich with every bite before swallowing heavily.

"Maa-"

"_Absolutely no_."

"Well-"

"I _will not_, in any circumstances, put some scented body oil on my fellow shinobi and give them a naked full-body rub, Kakashi-san. Especially when the current company is concerned." And with that the copy-nin received a severely pointed look served with a fiery red tinge blooming on the scarred tanned cheeks.

"Maa, what makes you think so badly of me, sensei? Have I ever done something-" Kakashi had never considered the possibility to be so quickly cut off in the middle of the sentence. That look was sharper than any blade swung at his direction during his active career.

"I _wonder_", came the ominous words from the dark lips and the scowling sensei took a sip from his tea, settling with an even darker look towards the small book that could be seen from the open door to their bedroom. "...Would she notice if-"

"She could always check the amount of the oil, sensei."

"But if we'd pour it slowly down the drain."

"I bet that it's chakra-infused. If that's the case then beside being highly effective when used for a massage, it'll also be easier to track in the drain pipes should you pour it down the kitchen sink or in the toilet. Bathroom would be efficient for fooling her, true, but she, with no doubt, has measured the correct usage of the oil per session so pouring too much or too little at once would be suspicious, plus usually it can be smelled or felt in some oils that it has been in contact with skin." As he reasoned further, Kakashi could feel the dark eyes intensify their look on him on each passing second, making it harder to keep his logic straight under the hard scrutiny that has obviously been cultivated to its peak during the years of the tanned man's teaching job. The jounin warily turned his gray eye to look at the pair of dark orbs examining him keenly and he felt a nervous smile stretch on his lips. Being an ex-ANBU wasn't a certified get-away card when Iruka was concerned, since the sensei had a very strict sense of serving equally ruthless punishments whenever someone pissed him off, no matter what rank they represented.

"...You really want to have a full-body rub, don't you, pervert."

"A man has his needs, sensei."

That sandwich was illegally fast in his opinion.

QQQ

_AN: Done and done with the day three. Moving on to the day four. Let me know what you think._

_[1] In some households here in the back of Europe the laundry machine really is situated in the kitchen, so I'm not high on anything. I just happen to live in Fennoscandia. Yes. Not Scandinavia. The things one learns, neh?_


	5. Day 4

_AN: Apologies for the wait, had a small argument with myself about the different plot scenarios. Let's see where this leads, then._

Day 4: Fleeting thoughts

As the chilly morning crept over the slumbering Hidden Village of Konoha, and as the ones assigned on the guard duty stretched their sore and stiff muscles while shaking off the condensed morning dew from their gear before setting off to give their reports and then hitting their beds after a long night...

...there sat a seething man on a wooden terrace, who, for the first time in his active chuunin career, was plotting a mutiny against his Hokage.

The dark eyes glared at the yellowish liquid that swirled in his small cup, and for a moment Iruka mused that if he kept on failing with his steeps at the current speed he might as well switch to coffee. That stuff was at least honest with its bad taste.

Thinking about the said other beverage brought darker clouds upon his head despite the clear morning sky as his thoughts took a sharp turn towards the small, innocent bottle standing on a shelf few dozen feet away behind the bathroom doors.

Talk about bad taste, indeed.

He had thought that the Hokage would be more considerate with her subordinates.

Sure, they had sore shoulders, stiff backs and their thighs have certainly seen better days, but the oily surprise was rubbing the tanned teacher in the wrong way so hard it was nowhere near relaxing. Tsunade knew her shinobis even better than they usually did, so why use that knowledge to make them uncomfortable? As for what Iruka could tell from last night, even Kakashi was slightly miffed from her stunt, even though the man's words told otherwise. The chuunin felt his cheeks heat up at the last sentence the silver-haired pervert had said before things got again out of hands, after which Iruka had to go to sleep with only half of his sandwich filling his stomach.

Damn that jounin and the man's way of getting so effortlessly under his tan skin.

The chuunin gave a long, silent sigh and set his tired eyes to look at the still darkly hued sky that slowly turned lighter in the horizon as the inevitable new day dawned upon his grumpy figure. He took a sip, winced at the bitter taste, sighed yet again and then his eyes caught on the washed laundry that he had folded neatly next to him. Particularly the freshly washed and now dry dark mask placed on top of the clothes, an unfortunate piece of cloth that had to be soaked five times to get the fish-scent out of the fabric [1]. Tentatively, the teacher reached out, took the mask in his hand and ran his thumb on the smooth fabric. He had never thought that the cocky copy-nin, who didn't seem like a man who'd care much about his looks, would use custom made masks of bamboo and silk. Then again, having wool or nylon would be downright idiotic to wear on one's face on daily basis. Having silk was smart and practical, since the fibers were smooth and they breathed enough, not to mention they held humidity and warmth in check in various climate conditions. The bamboo fiber was a good companion for the other for the similar qualities, plus for making the mask stretch and giving enough friction for the fabric to stay on one's face. Nothing less to be expected from the village's infuriating genius.

Did the man have special winter masks, though?

His brooding mood aside, a small, amused snort escaped Iruka at the thoughts of the elite nin doing his shopping in the shinobi supply store. He put down his tea and stretched the mask in his both hands to give it a better look. A small, albeit not so annoyed anymore, frown formed on his face as he took in consideration all the gossips, bets, legends and assumptions he had been unfortunate enough to bump into while working as a shinobi, moreover as a teacher and a mission room paper pusher. Why would people fuss so much over such a tiny piece of cloth? His frown deepened and Iruka took another sip from his ruined tea, noting absently that cooling badly brewed beverages certainly didn't do anything to salvage them, as he realized that ever since they started living under the same roof, he had not once tried to steal a glance at the currently sleeping shinobi's face. Not that there weren't any perfect opportunities presented to him almost frequently during their meals when Kakashi took the mask down to have a bite or a drink before pulling it back up, not to mention while sparring or when they undressed for shower.

Why didn't _he_ fuss over it?

A sound of light snoring caught his ears and Iruka gave a short glance through the terrace doors at their closed bedroom doors. After a moment's listening, he once again concentrated on the cloth in his hands, and before any of his logical brain cells could stop the man and give him a valid reason or five to reconsider the following action, Iruka pulled the mask over his head and on his face. The overly fresh scent of laundry liquid was the first to attack his nostrils and the tanned man had only a second's time to pull the cloth down from his face before an abrupt sneeze echoed in the otherwise silent backyard. He instantly shot a wary look at the direction of their bedroom, but the jounin's snoring continued without any changes in its pattern and the chuunin felt his shoulders slump slack from their sudden tension. He gave a sniff and rubbed his scarred nose vigorously to make it stop itching before slowly placing the black cloth back on his face. Then he leaned back a little, closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths through the fabric, while noting that the faint scent of morning dew became slightly muffled due to the blocking fibers and his skin prickled a bit for the strange feeling of having something covering it. Then again, if he remembered correctly, Kakashi was said to have a sense of smell good enough to rival his ninken, and Inuzukas for that matter.

Besides, using the mask since childhood had in no doubt made it become like a second skin for the older man.

Carefully, Iruka ran his fingers across his scar that was neatly hidden just under the mask's edge, the fabric retracing almost identically the marred skin underneath it. The coincidental fact had always humored the tanned man, since it was something that not many paid any attention to, and for a brief moment the teacher had to wonder if it really was so strange for them two to interact between each other, albeit in a clearly unorthodox manner. As for him not caring about the pervert's face, Iruka could feel a small, lopsided smile find its way on his now masked lips as the reason he already knew came to his mind.

After all, they all wore masks among their peers.

"Black suits you well, sensei."

As the chuunin's masked cheeks reached the whole new degrees of temperature, Kakashi idly wondered if it would be physiologically possible to suffer a self-caused heat stroke, moreover set silk and bamboo on fire through mere skin contact.

Faster than a blink, Iruka brought his hands to his face in order to pull the suddenly scalding mask away from his figure, but two strong hands reached from behind and snatched his hands in a firm grip, thus preventing him from removing the cloth from his face.

"Maa, it seems that I caught myself a naughty chuunin", a low, annoyed voice rumbled next to Iruka's now deep red ear and the following ominous chuckle caused a chilling shudder travel down his spine. Kakashi took both of the tanned wrists into his one hand and the other disappeared from the field of Iruka's vision, thus efficiently increasing the nervousness of the captured academy teacher. "I wonder what sort of punishment would be in order. Any suggestions, sensei?"

Feeling something with thin, sharp edge pressing against one's spine would have made a lesser man beg for mercy by now, and after Iruka recognized the object pressing on his tenth vertebra in an uncomfortable manner, he really wished to have sense enough to act as the lesser man. The teacher swallowed around a sudden lump in his throat and raked his brain in order to form words smart enough to convince the man behind his back that the kitchen utensils had nothing to do with him fooling around with the man's mask, which wasn't even on the bastard's face at that moment for that matter, and they really needed that spatula for making their meals.

"...Kakashi-san, I'm, in all my honesty, deeply-"

"Maa, none of that begging, sensei."

The icy silence that followed the sentence took the jounin by surprise, and the menacingly narrowed dark brown eyes that turned to glare at him over his captive's shoulder made Kakashi consider telling the teacher that the man was now playing against the rules.

"...It wasn't begging, you dick, it was an apology. Which you were kind enough to interr-"

"Sounded like begging to me, and trust me, I've heard a lot of that-"

"I _did not beg_, you ass!"

"Yes you-"

"_Can't you distinct an apology from a beg?! What kind of jounin are you? Do you kill people when they say 'I'm sorry', you sadistic idiot?!_"

Due to his hotly boiling temper and for him having difficulties to see behind his shoulder properly, Iruka missed the darkening of the slowly narrowing gray eye which was gradually gaining the warning signs of rising anger instead of the previous mild annoyance and teasing.

"_Maa_, I'd watch that tongue of yours, chuu-"

"_Shove it!_" Iruka was sorry for messing with Kakashi's belongings, he also realized his tongue being way too eager and that their situation was going the wrong way on more than just one level, but as the things currently stood, he was more than ready to murder the man with the unnerving spatula poking at his back before going for a second apology.

Though the passing twitch of the silver brow made him quickly realize that after a few moments there might not even be a mouth nor tongue on him to form an apology with.

Kakashi growled, flung the spatula away, took a hurting hold on the teacher's shoulder with his now free hand and forced the man on his side against the terrace floor hard enough to give the man a reason to cry out as his body met the hardwood. Then the jounin pinned the surprised chuunin's legs with his own and in a blink of an eye Iruka felt a rough hand tear the mask off of him and perform an interesting way of making makeshift shackles out of the cloth when the pale hands tied swiftly the now furiously resisting tan wrists together. Iruka cursed and struggled on the floor as he tried to break the bindings around his wrists and kick the legs away from pressing on his calves, making the folded laundry scatter around them in a disarray. Suddenly he felt being yanked back up sitting on his bottom, but the confusion for the older man's plans didn't last long as the next thing Iruka felt were calloused hands that took a painful hold on his ponytail.

Hence, as the first rays of sunlight peeked warily over the fence wall, the darkly humming jounin dragged the yelling and trashing chuunin into the dim training room by a steel grip on the man's hair.

The moment the ex-ANBU introduced the teacher with the philosophy concerning discipline among their ranks, Iruka was certain that he would learn to hate the chime of the silver bells.

Q

The pleasant morning sunlight didn't last long and the sounds of citizens running for nearest shelters could be heard over the fence as the heavy rain poured down from the now dark sky. The raindrops pelted against the roof of the light-gray house, creating their own melody of rhythmic tapping against the worn tiles, as the rain curtain hissed around the city and took its time to form various puddles and mischievous waterfalls flooding the drainpipes and the gutters, thus completely soaking the unfortunate individuals passing down the streets.

Kakashi had always enjoyed the rain. The quiet hiss surrounding him was one of the few sounds that ever had managed to calm him down, despite of usually ending up wet like a drowned rat and shivering from cold bordering the symptoms of hypothermia, but nevertheless, he liked the sound of it. Plus it made the air more humid, which worked like a cleansing filter for his mask, a small luxury which he appreciated greatly after missions in dry conditions.

As for now, the rain gave him something else to concentrate on instead of the unpleasant tension hanging between him and the academy teacher who was nursing the red marks on his wrists while sitting on his futon a good ten feet away from him.

The remnants of their late brunch were forgotten on the tray between them after they had prepared and eaten the food in an uneasy silence, the men avoiding the other's gaze the whole time. Kakashi gave a short glance at the tanned man and seeing the deep frown furrow the usually vivid eyebrows gave his gut a small twist. He didn't mean to beat the man up for the first thing in the morning, if anything he had been planning to enjoy the early morning in the chuunin's good company, but for the life of him he couldn't understand how the hell the shit had hit the fan so thoroughly before he even managed to get his morning coffee. He had gotten unexpectedly riled up for seeing the man wear his mask without asking first, and the following flow of insults from that sharp tongue had hit the last nerve to make Kakashi see red.

A dark cloud passed his mind as he remembered the spatula that was still embedded to the wall. Being a genius was apparently restricted to actions performed after his first dose of caffeine.

He did know that the teacher didn't mean half of the things his mouth spitted out, but the unusually bitter tone in them had been the trigger for Kakashi to lose his temper. But, after the copy-nin had managed to calm down and analyze their brief yelling exercises for a minute, he realized that Iruka had sounded very reluctant with his words as well. As if the man had been wanting to yell at someone else than him.

The ex-ANBU had a good idea on who that particular individual was.

A small, awkward clearing of a throat made Kakashi look back at the face that was no longer disgruntled, but ashamed. Iruka turned his head to give a careful glance at Kakashi's direction and the jounin raised a challenging brow at the indecisive annoyance that momentarily swirled in the dark eyes.

He really could live without the second shouting round for that morning.

"...I'm sorry", came the quiet murmur from the dark lips and the silver brow rose a bit more to meet the blush that tinged the scarred cheeks. The chuunin took a deep breath, apparently to pull himself together, and opened his eyes for a straighter look at the narrow dark gray eye that was watching him. "I'm sorry for putting your mask on, Kakashi-san. I shouldn't have done it, it was against the protocol, very unprofessional, and furthermore violated your privacy. I'm also sorry for shouting rude things at you." With those words Iruka sat on his knees, turned to face the now utterly baffled copy-nin, and, to Kakashi's complete surprise, proved some of jounin's opinions on him wrong in the most unexpected manner.

"I'm deeply sorry for my misbehavior. Please accept my apology, jounin-san," the mellow voice worded out as the teacher bowed his head to the mattress.

The sound of rain was for a moment the only sound heard in the house as the jounin stared at the atoning chuunin. Then a thought came to the silver-haired nin and he patiently waited as the blushing teacher rose back on his knees and cast him a wary look. A look which took a turn into a flight-or-fight reflex crossing the tan features as Kakashi directed a bright smile at the chuunin and put away his empty coffee mug. Then Kakashi turned to face the man properly and pointed his finger at the fidgeting teacher.

"Give me your hairband."

Of all the things that could have left the masked mouth, that request was the last to expect for Iruka. Hesitantly, he reached with his hands to his already bristled and abused ponytail, which still gave small stings of pain to his scalp from the slightest touch, and directed a doubting look at the still smiling man.

"Questioning your superior again, chuunin?" The warning was clear in the man's voice.

Iruka gritted his teeth and pulled off his hairband, his other hand offering the small band of rubber for the jounin as the other held his hair up for the time being. Kakashi lifted himself up from his futon and scooted closer to the tanned chuunin who had to resist his reflexes telling him to take the equal amount of scoots backwards. The jounin took the band from the tan fingers and cast a stern look at him.

"Let your hair down, sensei."

"...Kakas-"

"You used your fellow shinobi's personal belongings without permission, insulted your colleague with foul language and yet you still dare to oppose a direct order? Do you teach your students to act the same way, _sensei_?" Kakashi's sharp and strict voice cut down the teacher's objection, which was an unnecessary reminder from the previous time Iruka had heard the man use the same tone on him.  
Half an hour ago, to be precise. With fists and feet for emphasis.

Swallowing down the forming storm rivaling the one raging through their village at the moment, Iruka gave a surrendering sigh. This was a fight he had lost from the start, and he didn't feel like starting a new one either. While closing his eyes he let go of his hair, feeling it descent over his neck and shoulders, and he already wanted to have it back in its rightful bindings when the first stray locks tickled his cheekbones. He gave a grumpy look at the man sitting in front of him, but the foreign glint in the gray eye silenced the words on his tongue. After a fleeting silence, Kakashi stretched the rubber band with his fingers, dipped his head, and caused nearly a half of Iruka's brain to short-circuit.

When the copy-nin straightened back up, the stunned look of utter disbelief on the tanned features made his closed eyelid twitch with an urge to memorize the sensei's face with his sharingan. But, against the current desire, he chose to close his both eyes in happy crescents as a wide grin stretched on his masked lips, and, as he reckoned that for the first time, for once, he didn't have hair tickling his face, he now understood why the teacher was so fond of having his hair up all the time.

"Eye for an eye, neh?"

While the made question flew unheard past his ears, Iruka was beyond words. Not many minutes ago he was introduced with the cruelty of a pissed off jounin applying all his training on his fellow shinobi, the man not caring if the used methods slipped occasionally to ANBU's torture antics as long as his prey was breathing, dodging and running. Now, as his wide eyes stared at the silvery mane being tamed into a small, pointy, spiky, _perky_ tuft of a ponytail wiggling on top of the head of one of the most dangerous assassins ever recorded in the books of living legends, the teacher had never before been so thankful to possess a memory better than the average nin's.

Then his eyes landed back on the man's dark gray eye staring expectantly at him.

After the brief exchange of looks, Iruka's eyes traveled further to see the whole upper half of the man's face without the silver hair blocking the view. He could now clearly see the vertical scar cross the other eyelid which hid the famous red orb, he could see the bare forehead that was shielding the genius mind behind it, and suddenly he couldn't understand why others wasted their time on fussing over the masked lower half of the pale face since the upper half was a sight to behold on its own accord and it was right there for him to be looked at properly.

"...The perky tail suits you, Kakashi-san."

The thunderstruck look in the gray eye froze the blood in the chuunin's veins, and being utterly mortified to hear his own voice to carry out such things, Iruka slammed his hand on his mouth to prevent any more of similar thoughts leaving his lips unchecked. As the gaze of the dark gray eye didn't seem to leave his panicking figure, the chuunin started to count the amount of steps and dodges he needed in order to reach for the breakfast tray to knock the man unconscious if it came to that.

For the complete lack of ideas on how things should go from there, a sudden chortle burst out from the masked lips as Kakashi felt an uncontrollable laughter bubble through his body at the other man's shocked face. He felt tears gather in his eyes and he held desperately on his hurting sides while the abrupt, violent guffaws shook him to the very bone. To his surprise, what his downfall did cause wasn't a renewed yelling session with the easily embarrassed sensei, but an accompanying sound of disbelieving, bright waves of laughter that flowed into his ears. He managed to clear his eye enough to witness how Iruka, behind his mussed curtain of brown hair, laughed loud and hard while the man tried to wipe his eyes clear from the tears and seemed to try desperately cover his deeply blushing face at the same time. The tensed aggression the jounin had sensed on the other ever since the last night seemed to have vanished from the man, for which Kakashi was happy, and for what he wished to find other means to release instead of giving the teacher a new set of bruises.

The rain poured down even heavier than before and the citizens of Konoha cursed at the brisk storm winds that penetrated their thick layers of clothing and chilled them to the bones, but the ambiance between the two men now left panting for air in the bedroom was once more a tad bit warmer and lighter than previous moments ago.

"..Maa..apology accepted, Iruka-sensei."

Q

The small bell chimed on his right side and Iruka leaped away from the kicking feet that narrowly missed their target. Determined to go in for the kill, Kakashi grunted and took a few quick steps to catch up with the escaping prey before swinging his leg once more at the chased chuunin. Iruka skidded to a halt the moment he sensed the other next to his body and dodged down on his knees, the sensei letting the kicking leg swing way past over his ponytail, while taking a good hold on the man's other knee with his hands, thus making the man buckle under his own weight as his knee was suddenly yanked from under him. Kakashi landed on his back with a grunt and for the fleeting second the dark eyes locked with the lone gray as Iruka leaned on top of his opponent, the tanned hands already tracing the red thread attached to the man's slacks.

Suddenly Iruka noticed an arm grab his frame from behind and felt his body being pulled over the older man and rolled under the other's body as the ever so clever copy-nin switched their positions to his advantage. Kakashi sat on his heels and took a firm hold onto Iruka's jaw before hoisting the man with him up on his feet, shoved the other a few feet back and then heard the pleasing sounds of his punches making contact seven times with the tanned skin.

Iruka gave a strangled cough as the air left him, and he barely managed to block the eight and ninth punch sailing at his direction. Then he collected the rest of his adrenaline, took a good hold onto one pale wrist, spun around and threw the older nin over his shoulder.

What he didn't expect was for the older man to land gracefully back on his feet, turn around and give him a sharp blow to his midriff with straightened fingers. Heaving for breath, Iruka fell on his other knee and then felt a leg kick him square on his shoulder, thus making him fall on his back on the floor. Kakashi scooped down to collect the bell from his defeated opponent and then sat down next to the panting man, he himself feeling out of breath as well. The seals were indeed working, it has been a while for him to feel tired after what was only the fourth match.

Slowly, Iruka picked himself up from the floor and plopped down next to his counterpart. As they sat on the matted floor while gathering their breaths for the following stretches, he gave a look at his once again snatched bell resting on the other's hand.

"They've come a long way, haven't they."

The dark gray eye turned to look at the pensive chuunin and then back at the bell, the older man nodding briefly at the question.

"Indeed they have. A rather fool proof method, one could say", Kakashi said as he ran his thumb on the smooth metal surface. "Even Naruto paid attention when we sparred with these."

A bright chuckle was heard from his side and Kakashi noticed Iruka shaking his head in amused manner. Then the teacher gave him a toothy grin. "Don't tell me you're comparing me to him, Kakashi-san. I like ramen, granted, but I would prefer to think that I still have more sense in my head than that little demonic whirlwind."

For that Kakashi couldn't help but offer the man a similar, cheesy grin.

"Takes one to raise one, eh, sensei?"

Apparently the teacher didn't need the stretches before the fifth round.

Q

"This actually fits me quite well, Kakashi-san."

"Hm?" The dark dray eye glanced up from the syringe.

"This form of training", Iruka said and took off one of the thermal trouser legs in order to give his sample. "I mean, I'm usually highly aware of my chakra reserves, especially when facing a stronger opponent, and I've noticed that it affects my fighting from time to time", the darker man continued while he observed his blood fill the small vial, "but now there's less hesitation in my actions as I fight nearly without chakra. Of course knowing that you're in the same situation does affect that, but-"

"But now you don't have to remind yourself constantly about your remaining chakra but you can concentrate solely on your combat tactics."

"Exactly. Stop ending my sentences for me."

"Maa, ever so strict, aren't you." Kakashi sealed the vial and put it into the small box which he took to the fridge. Iruka was already sipping tea as he returned with his coffee and sat next to the man. He took a small sip from his mug before replacing his mask and looked at the thoughtful man on his side. "Have you noticed something else while we fight?"

The teacher hummed for a moment and leaned back on the terrace. "...No, now that you ask about it. Maybe some things are changing so slowly that I don't realize them happening", Iruka shrugged with a raised brow and took a sip. "But somehow, I don't know why, I enjoy fighting with you nowadays even more than before." With that he gave a glance at the copy-nin who was observing him. Then he felt a wide grin tilt his lips. "I'm becoming insane, aren't I?"

Kakashi gave a low chuckle at the man's words. "Well, not insane, per se. You're just turning into a jounin."

That level of paleness on tanned skin couldn't be healthy.

Q

Kakashi dodged to the side and away from the tanned fist hitting the wall on the spot where his chest had been, aimed his punch at Iruka's side and twisted his hand free from the tanned fingers that were trying to get a better hold on it after blocking the blow. The jounin rounded the chuunin who fell in step with him, the darker man following his every twitch and moving on the same pace as Kakashi did while he circled the man, trying to find an opening for his assault. The men circled each other with not more than three feet of air between them, their bodies ready to give and block blows that were about the be exchanged as soon as either of them decided to make a move.

The moment when Kakashi's left leg shifted its angle as it hit the matted floor, Iruka was more than ready to face whatever the man had in mind for him. The chuunin took a defensive stance in seconds and it didn't take long for the pale body to plunge towards him, the jounin pulling his fist back for a quick punch.

After analyzing the angle of the hit and making his own decisions based on two or three possibilities on how the jounin would modify the hit, Iruka suddenly noticed it. The small opening he had been carefully searching.

For a second he speculated it to be a ruse.

As the pale fist sailed towards his head, the teacher made his gamble. He bent down, closed the distance between them, let the man's punch fly past his shoulder a mere inch away as he spun around to have his back at the man, straightened up and drove his elbow in the jounin's collarbones. A loud whack echoed in the room as the contact was made. The older nin's eye stared at him aghast when the pale body staggered backwards and Iruka continued his turning momentum to face his opponent as he felt his lips tilt into a victorious smile when his fingers closed around the chiming goal. His other hand delivered the final blow on the same spot between the man's collarbones before the elite could catch on his actions, and the red thread came off as the jounin stumbled backwards from the hit.

The alarm began its high-pitched beeping and Kakashi leaned down with his hands against his thighs while taking a few deep breaths. Iruka cast a curious look at the defeated man.

"Have you noticed that this tag is starting to resemble our first days before we decided to try this method, Kakashi-san?" the teacher noted nonchalantly as he tossed the bell in the air just to catch it again.

Kakashi straightened up and gave his arms a small stretch, a thoughtful hum resonating from his throat. "Could be, now that I think about it. Do you wish to switch back for this being just a game of tag, sensei?" The jounin asked and a teasing, playful look crossed his eye.

"No need necessarily", the chuunin mused while he observed the bell he was playing with. As he caught it once more Iruka shot a mischievous smirk at the older shinobi. "Not when I'm the one doing the ass-kicking, that is."

The masked man's rumbling laughter was something he doubted he'd ever grow tired of.

Q

Iruka let out a delighted moan as the warm water washed away the sweat he had been pushing the whole day and a brief laughter echoed from the other shower stall next to him.

"Need a helping hand over there, sensei?"

An indignant blush bloomed on his cheeks as Iruka took some shampoo on his hand, weighed calmly the nearly full bottle in the other and then promptly tossed it to the other side over the stained glass wall. A pleased smile tilted his lips when he heard the plastic hit wet skin and a surprised yelp escape the older man. "Keep the perverted ideas to yourself, idiot. Not all of us think through innuendos on daily basis, mind you."

A small pained grunt was slightly muffled due to the sound of water hitting their bodies. "True. But, being a pervert is so much more fun than acting all straight-laced. And don't hit people with plastic bottles, it's rude."

Iruka raised a brow at that remark while he rubbed his scalp clean from all the dust gathered on it from the constant encounters with the floor. They would need to clean the place soon, that ANBU did a lousy job with the dusting. "Saa, I didn't hit you with it, I threw it at you and managed to land a hit on you with it. I thought that the difference would be clear to all jounin. Besides, being on the receiving end of various flying projectiles, moreover successfully _dodging_ them, should be an obvious point in your job description by now, concerning how long you've been working in this profession, Kakashi-_kun._" It was a vain attempt to keep the smug smirk out of his voice.

A dark hum reached his attentive ears from the other side. "Now you're just begging for it, _sensei_-"

"For the second time, _I do not beg_, bastard."

A dry snort caught the cinnamon ears. "Nonsense. Everybody begs, even you."

"Have fun making me", came the challenging reply from the sensei's lips as he rinsed his hair happily.

The following loud series of abrupt coughs and gurgles made the chuunin replay the said words in his head for a moment, and amidst his struggles to get all the excessive water out of his lungs, Kakashi was certain that the whistling sound resembling a tea kettle that was piercing through the sound of their showering did not come from the kitchen nor from the plumbing. The jounin took a deep breath and hit his chest for a few more times before he found his voice again.

"...Maa, still up for-"

"_Stuff it, Kakashi-san_."

Q

They laid on their futons, both the cup and mug at hand, as the men concentrated on their chosen literature. Kakashi cast a look from behind his book at the other man laying on his mattress on his stomach, the honey-toned strong jaw propped up on one hand and the dark eyes scanning the sealed pages of the notebook. Iruka hadn't tied his hair up after their shower and the man's towel was already neatly placed to dry hanging from their bedroom's wall hooks, as Kakashi's was folded, granted, but still left on the floor next to his bed. The tanned man was always very neat in jounin's opinion, his stacks of paper were the most straight ones in the mission room and his scrolls sealed more properly than others', not to mention the orderly line of pens decorating the desk's surface, conveniently at hand for swiftly served penalties should someone piss the man off. As the gray eye focused on the sensei who was lost in his own thoughts, Kakashi found his eye wander idly over the man's whole demeanor.

Then again, with the visible results he could consider cleaning more often as well.

"Is there something on my face, Kakashi-san?"

The smooth words snapped the gray eye's attention back at the tanned face, moreover at the man's eyes that were giving him an intense, speculating gaze. Kakashi had no doubts that the other had been tempted to use some other word instead of '_face'_ in his question, but wasn't the one to point it out.

"Just wondered how you're doing with the seals. You know, a genius offering his assistance if needed."

A dry snort was given and the dark eyes fell back to look at the current spread which had yet to pop open. "Wouldn't that be against our bet?" Iruka had possibly only three more seals left and for the time being all he had was only a vague idea of their logic, since he hadn't been present when the previous ones had opened. He was reluctant to think that he should waste one seal just to see what it looked like when activated. Not to mention admitting to himself that he needed to wait for that in order to get a better idea on the exasperating riddle.

"Minor details. We could settle for a draw then", Kakashi mused behind his book.

"I think that I'll manage, Kakashi-san."

"Not one to settle for a draw, are you, sensei?"

"After the months that we've been greeting each other with knuckles before saying _'hello'_ that could be the case, yes", Iruka's smirk was interrupted with a yawn and he closed the book. Then he sat up, stretched his back leisurely, while noting that his right shoulder will hurt like hell the next morning, and emptied his cup with a gulp.

"That shoulder looks like it could use some more stretches." Kakashi gave Iruka a lingering look before putting away his porn with the rest of the bunch and sitting up on his futon. The teacher put away his cup and rolled his shoulders while looking to the side as the copy-nin took a few gulps on his coffee, the man wincing a bit at the slightly tangy taste of the liquid. Lukewarm coffee was never pleasant to drink.

"Undoubtedly. Feels like it as well." Iruka put the notebook properly away before looking back at the ex-ANBU. The masked man nodded and then they both stood up, shook their limbs back awake for a second and then took a good hold on each others' shoulders before bending their knees and descending slowly. They stopped when their knees reached the ninety degrees angle and stood still for a couple of minutes before gradually ascending back up. They squeezed each others' shoulders for a confirmation for continuing, and repeated the stance a few more times before switching for another position.

Q

"Sit a bit straighter, Kakashi-san", Iruka said from behind the other's back as he took hold of the older man's arms that were lifted upon the man's head, the jounin sitting cross-legged on the floor. The silver-haired shinobi straightened his back and then Iruka proceeded to slowly bend the lifted arms back while pressing the side of his knee and thigh between the man's shoulder blades, observing both the man's breathing and body language. The right arm gave a twitch and Iruka gave it a tiny squeeze, then he felt the muscles turn more pliant under his fingers. The jounin's breathing turned deeper with each passing minute and the pale body became more relaxed in teacher's eyes. Though the sensei also sensed for there to still remain the thin edge of alerted attention in the silver-haired man's figure.

"...Maa, been a while to let someone stand this close behind my back", came the quiet words behind the mask, and if Iruka's hearing was correct, the older man sounded slightly apologetic. A warm smile splayed on the teacher's face as the meaning of the shallow note was examined in his mind.

"You're doing well, Kakashi-san. Just let me know."

Iruka felt the muscles twitch under his hold before they settled for the last minutes of their stretch. The teacher lowered the hands at Kakashi's sides and the jounin rolled his shoulders slowly and shook them a few times.

"...As for the..ah, bad morning, um..is miso soup okay for you, Kakashi-san?"

Kakashi stilled and turned to give a bewildered look at the man now crouching behind him. Iruka's lips were in a grim line and the dark eyes concentrated on the floor while the man traced his scarred nose awkwardly with his finger. Kakashi felt his gut stir strangely at the sight and after a heartbeat it wasn't only the chuunin that stared with wide eyes at the pale hand resting on his shoulder. After recovering from the initial shock of his muscles working without warning his brain first, Kakashi had a fleeting second to reconsider his following action.

The rising flush of on the tanned cheeks was as entertaining as ever to Kakashi when the Konoha's infamous S-class elite jounin gave the tanned chuunin's shoulder a warm squeeze served with an equally warm smile spreading on his unexpectedly flushing face.

"Maa. I'll make the fish then."

The men looked astounded at each other, both taken aback by their suddenly changed, new form of communication. They had argued and settled their fights before, true, and were, against the common assumptions, capable of having an amiable conversation and even compliment each other when the situation called for it, but touching one another in such a manner that the jounin's hand was currently displaying had been, by far, the least expected way of expressing their budding friendship at each other.

Kakashi slowly turned the now very warm hold on the tanned shoulder into a firmer squeeze before giving the other a more familiar expression of two brightly smiling eyes.

"How about we fix that shoulder, eh, sensei?"

QQQ

_Done, day five in progress. Thank you for the delightful bones that have been received so far, they've helped to maintain the writing pace nicely. I hope you enjoyed this chapter._

_[1] Ah. Well. Referring to the hilarious episode of 'trying-to-see-Kakashi-sensei's-face'. He reveals a mask underneath the other mask, so one could think that he has both the attached masks on his singlets and detached masks which are just pulled over the head. If not, my mistake._

As for the silk and bamboo fibres, I use a silken mask while downhill skiing and used that as a reference, since man that little cloth does wonders in different winter conditions. But, not the matter of highest importance for the plot. Moving on then.


	6. Day 4 Night

_AN: A slightly shorter chapter, but what the hey. Once again, thank you all for the lovely reviews, you do an amazing job at keeping my writing hand itching constantly and I'll do my best to make you pee in your pants in the chapters to come. In more ways than one._

Day 4, Night: Dirty laundry

The darkness that enveloped the shinobi village reached for every corner it could find, harassing the little flickers of light on its way through the now hollow streets and alleys which were earlier bustling with the daily traffic. The following silence hushed the remaining nocturnal creatures and the voices of the latecomers faded into the air as the starry sky and the moon gave out their light in order to help the last ones to find their homes on their tired, or intoxicated, way.

The pale light wandered over the ordinary house in ordinary neighborhood, and was thrilled to find puffs of steam to play with while the modest water boiler hissed on the kitchen counter in the dim light of the kitchen lamp.

Yawning, Kakashi leaned against the counter as he waited for the hot water. The sound of hissing and bubbling filled the kitchen and the man couldn't help but compare the current sounds with the more temperamental man who was fast asleep in their shared bedroom. The current noise pattern was remarkably similar with the chuunin's boiling blood, and the jounin had to wonder if that's why the teacher preferred tea over coffee. After the faint click telling that his waiting was over, the copy-nin poured the scalding liquid in a tiny bowl with some instant noodles in it. Then he placed a plate as a lid on it and leaned yet again against the counter as the time slowly ticked by. He could feel his eyes droop a bit, but as the passing, rather frustrating hours had shown, he wasn't going to get any sleep by tossing and turning in his bed. Even listening to the teacher's steady breathing wasn't helping.

Hence, he made himself a snack.

Rubbing his scalp and more or less relaxed shoulders, he let his eye wander over their current household, noting that despite being scarce in square meters the clever floor planning gave it plenty of space for them two not to feel claustrophobic with two quite healthy egos being stuck under the same roof. The dark corridor was the only narrow space in their house, apparently meant for just separating the toilet from the other rooms. Amidst his thoughts, the jounin scratched absently behind his ear and lifted the makeshift lid to give a brief look at his food. Carefully, he placed the lid back with a clink to give the noodles a few more extra minutes, since this wasn't a mission where he should settle for half-made nutrition or no food at all. Being a jounin and an ex-ANBU did set many seemingly irrelevant things in a very different light, such as patiently waiting for the softening of long, thin, curly strings that were deemed to be edible by someone, undoubtedly blond, in the ancient times.

Small wonders.

After a couple of minutes, the lid was taken off and the copy-nin seasoned his modest portion, savoring the fact that he in fact had time to calmly prepare his meal on a mission after suffering occasionally from hunger bordering severe malnutrition during the three last missions he had completed in the previous month. The passing thought stopped the stirring pale hand and the gray eye stared at the bowl as the silver-haired head kicked in a gear or two in the genius mind inside the hard skull. A low, insightful hum was released beneath his mask and the jounin took the bowl in his hand, tugged down his mask and leaned against the counter with a bit more relaxed manner than a minute ago before eating his food in earnest.

_Beneficial mission_, indeed.

The gray eye became more focused and the pale lips were drawn into a pensive line while the teeth behind them munched on the slippery bites.

What should he do to that cursed, tiny bottle, though?

Sure, the oil was chakra infused, which would help immensely to heal their muscles and relax properly in order to stay sufficiently agile, and he surmised that Tsunade had foreseen what their reaction would be with it. In fact, the jounin didn't doubt for a second that after seeing the destruction they had caused on the house and their equipments, the Hokage hadn't needed any more reasons to send them her little 'gift'. Hell, knowing her way of reacting when she'd hear that they haven't touched it with anything less than an eleven feet long pole, the massage oil fell promptly into Kakashi's category of inventive means of giving Tsunade a valid reason to punch them into the next week instead of merely yelling their ears off. Even thinking about probing the subject with the bipolar sensei caused a cold shiver travel down his spine.

He'll turn into a missing nin before she'd even manage to breathe the word _'tent'_.

After slurping down the remaining noodles, Kakashi washed and dried the bowl and the used utensils, and then silently contemplated on making himself some coffee. He did need his sleep. Then again, he was highly skeptical about feeling sleepy enough to hit the futon just yet.

"...Why are you up so late?" A groggy, gruff voice groaned behind his back.

Coffee it was, then.

"Couldn't sleep", Kakashi answered nonchalantly and dug out his precious coffee. He calmly measured the water in the machine's tank before putting the grains in the filter bag as he felt the other step silently next to him. As the coffee began to brew, he observed the drowsy teacher, the man's chestnut hair tied up in a sloppy ponytail somewhere in the vicinity of the back of his head, touch tentatively the water boiler, notice the opened noodle package and hum sleepily in thought before taking his tea stash and cup.

"You made yourself a night snack without waking me up to have some as well? Greedy jounin", Iruka mused with a tired smirk beside Kakashi and the older man felt a wry smile tilt his lips at the chuunin's teasing words.

"Ah, but you didn't strike me as a night eater type, sensei", Kakashi said and gave the man a sly once-over.

"I'm not. I just prefer my night snack with company", came the smooth reply with a wicked, playful look cast at the jounin's direction. The chuunin was obviously waking up more properly.

A chuckle met the mirth-filled eyes. "I see. Will that do with any company?"

"Oh, not all company. Just the good", Iruka gave a grin before taking a sip of his tea and leaning his backside against the counter, his other hand crossed over his chest while the other held the cup to his lips. Then he gave another, more strict look at the silent jounin next to him. "..So, what's picking on your brain cells in that bleached head of yours so much that you'd lose your sleep for?"

Kakashi gave a curt shrug at the question and focused on the chugging coffee maker. Iruka kept his dark eyes on the man while the full lips traced the edge of the porcelain absentmindedly, something that made Kakashi's skin tingle a bit as he discreetly studied the other from the corner of his eye under the unwavering gaze. Then the gray eye gave a passing glance at the tanned face and the jounin calmly filled his mug, noting while doing so that the teacher had turned his eyes away and was now drinking the tea with a pensive air around his figure. The men sipped their hot drinks in silence as the night lingered around them, time ticking steadily towards the following day that was yet to dawn upon them. Then Iruka gave a tired huff, filled his cup again and then left it steep on the counter before going to their bathroom. After a moment the man returned and Kakashi's eye caught on the all too familiar little bottle not so gently placed on the counter top by the tanned hands. Iruka leaned back against his previous spot with his tea. Then the dark eyes sought out the lone gray one that was fixed on the small glass vessel between the men.

"Any solutions so far?"

"None whatsoever. You?"

"I think you had a fair glimpse on what my progression was on this case earlier, Kakashi-san", the mellow voice grunted as the dark eyes glared briefly at the minuscule bane of their common existence. Kakashi cast a brief look at the man and caught a glimpse of a small embarrassed blush on the high cheekbones before focusing back on the innocent bottle. The men stood by the counter in thoughtful silence, both the silver and brown brows furrowed in deep speculations as the two minds mulled over the matter at hand.

"...So."

"So..."

The night held its breath as the silver-haired man cast a wary look at his brown-haired counterpart.

"...We could give it a go-"

"I'd rather have a three-course meal with Gai-san._"_

"Maa, maa, watch your tongue, he might hear that. Besides, don't tell me you haven't shared any thoughts on trying it at least", Kakashi, true to his nature of being either the bravest or the craziest of the bunch when it came to dealing with dangerous situations, smirked and winked suggestively at the man who was rightfully feared for his ever so impressive skills of turning everyday objects into deadly weapons in half a second. Had been a while for him to hear Iruka search for his syllables so fervently. He should practice shocking the man more often.

"I- you- what, _no_! I haven't thought of anything like that!" Kakashi felt a small rise in the kitchen's room temperature, and on that note an evil smile found its way on his hidden lips. Now, this was interesting.

"Then you should. I'm usually not one to brag, but it might be worth it, sensei", he added with a suggestive leer and leaned a fraction closer to the now furiously blushing chuunin.

"_Come again?_" Now the temperature was downright tropical. Also the ominously ticking vein on the now cherry-red forehead did make Kakashi re-check his position towards the nearest escape route before continuing with his next words.

"It's part of our current assignment, sensei. Surely a responsible shinobi-" The banging sound of china meeting hardwood cut off his argument.

"Has your lazy ass been _awake_ during this mission? Moreover, have you paid any attention on how keen we two are at tickling the other's jaw with an elbow whenever an opportunity arises? There's no way that I'll lather you with something that would make it impossible for me to grab you for a beating, even more so when I know that you'd use the given chance the moment you get it and kami help me I will not come closer to your bare albino buttocks with anything less than one of my sharpest katanas." The heatedly lecturing sensei had hit a few good points, Kakashi had to admit. Even the ones that had crossed his mind as well, save for the threat of getting his ass cut into sashimi should he ever approach the man in nude. But that didn't stop him from continuing their current argument that was turning out to be incredibly amusing to him, despite the slowly gathering irritated aura just four feet away from his broadly grinning figure.

"First of all, it's not _'albino',_ it's '_pearly white_'. Secondly, you talk as if you wouldn't seize the moment when it presents itself to you, sensei."

The clearly unimpressed, flat look accompanied with an expertly arched dark eyebrow made Kakashi shortly remember his father's expression when it took him more than three minutes to understand the difference between shuriken and kunai at the age of two. Then again, he had indeed learned fast after that small escapade, as well having eventually understood why it isn't smart to neglect wearing the armored gloves while handling sharp-edged weapons.

The things one needs to screw up in order to become a better shinobi.

Then again, on that thought the orange, loud ramen addict should be a jounin by now.

Iruka pinched the bridge of his nose with an exasperated groan. "Of course I would. That's why we have a problem, dimwit."

After being snapped out of his wildly swirling thoughts by the rather unexpected answer, Kakashi gave a loud bark of laughter at the chuunin's words, slightly surprising the man, and took the discussed bottle in his hand to give it a better look.

The sudden look of an idea flashing in the gray eye made Iruka's eyes narrow and his fingers tighten their hold on his already mistreated tea cup. He didn't like the current smirk stretching the dark mask. The perverted genius was up to something, and the teacher was already calculating the speed and angle needed for a good toss at the bastard's head. He would need a new cup afterwards, but he could live with that outcome.

"...Maa, then we'd just work around the problem, sensei."

"...Eh?" Violent thoughts promptly forgotten, Iruka gave a befuddled frown at the said words. What did the smug bastard aim for now?

"She didn't specify when and how this oil should be used, correct?" Kakashi asked and directed an inquiring look at Iruka, who curtly shook his head as a confused answer. The mismatched eyes smiled and Kakashi tossed the bottle in the air before placing it back on the counter. "Well then there's the solution. We're trained to obey orders. If we don't have specific instructions, we don't act on the spot. Simple as that. We'd just tell her that there's acutely no need for us to use this since we do just fine with the current stretches."

Iruka gave him a long look, then took the bottle in his hands and examined it for a moment, during which Kakashi wondered if he had still missed something that was ticking on the honey-toned man's nerves. Then Iruka let out a light chuckle and tossed the bottle to Kakashi.

"You really are worthy of your rank, Kakashi-san," Iruka said and shook his head. How had he missed the obvious loophole? If there was no direct order, either written or said, they didn't need to obey it firsthand, but they could use their own discretion on when to perform the wanted action.

If at all.

"Flattering words and starry-eyed admiration are always welcomed, sensei", Kakashi said as he felt a more honest smile tug his lips wide under his mask. Somehow he could understand a bit better why the man's pupils valued their sensei so much, attempted escapes and riots aside. He could get used to the warm compliments formed by the witty, full-lipped mouth.

Iruka laughed and gave him a sidelong glance, the chuunin's deep brown eyes bright and...mischievous? Kakashi cocked an eyebrow at the look in the teacher's eyes and Iruka stepped to the door leading to the backyard. The man pulled it open and walked to the dark yard, the starry sky expanding over it and the village around them. Kakashi, curious as ever, followed the man outside after returning the oil bottle way back on their bathroom shelf. He felt the damp ground under his bare feet and the scent of the fallen rain still lingered in the humid air around the two shinobis as they stood under the night sky. After a moment of admiring the starry scenery in silence, the jounin gave a look at the teacher who had kept his eyes turned at him for a good while already.

Iruka's gut stirred giddily and he felt his lips turn into a coy smile as his muscles twitched restlessly with sudden eagerness that filled them. If asked, he doubted if he would be able to answer as to why he did what he was about to do. Truthfully, though, he couldn't bring himself to think about it as his body shifted automatically into a familiar offensive stance that had its own meaning as a part of the silent language in their profession.

The blink he received spoke clearly about the older man's confusion. Then the dark eye narrowed ever so slightly and gave the smiling chuunin a calculating look. "...The ground is soaking wet, sensei."

"Afraid for your fancy clothes, Sharingan Kakashi?" Iruka raised a challenging brow and cocked his head arrogantly to the side with his jaw tilted up, knowing perfectly well how much that gesture sometimes annoyed his opponent.

The following, sharp silence did raise his alertness exponentially, though.

"..Not exactly that", came the low voice suddenly from Iruka's right. "It might just become difficult to distinguish you from the ground after a while, sensei."

Iruka lashed out to the right, barely blocking the blow to his side and then the second to his shoulder. He rushed a few feet away from the assaulting shinobi and as the man continued the attack by dashing after him, Iruka stopped dead on his tracks and dove around to deliver a swift high spin kick, effectively stopping the other from advancing and forcing the jounin to dodge backwards, thus creating himself an opening for his own attack. With few quick steps he closed the distance between them and Kakashi was pleased to block the impressive series of accurate punches directed at different vital spots on his torso, all effective if ever making contact with their target. The man had indeed listened the ex-ANBU, a thought that made the masked man smile and he could feel the hot adrenaline fill his veins as he decided to show the sensei exactly how much he appreciated having a diligent student in his class.

Iruka felt the strong hands grab his forearms in mid-swing and before he could prevent it a kick smacked against his side first once, then twice, then once to the other side before he was yanked forward and a mean set of knuckles collided with his jaw, sending him flying onto his back in the mud. The starry sky greeted him from the horizontal viewpoint, but instead of immersing himself in some stargazing, the chuunin instantly dodged on his side and away from a nasty upper-cut kick cutting into the mud. Iruka scrambled on his feet, not caring about the cold wetness clinging against his skin, and plunged himself at the other before the older nin had managed to stand up properly after the performed kick. Kakashi blocked the combo of a double kick and two punches before dodging down from the second high kick and kicking the leg from under the tanned man who landed roughly once more to the ground, the muddy soil giving a wet splash underneath the lean body.

"Maa, sensei, so messy tonight, aren't we", the jounin drawled in mocking arrogance as he watched the other pick himself up from the ground. Then his gray eye widened a fraction.

No academy teacher should be able to vanish so quickly in the shadows.

"...Cocky words suit most men poorly, Kakashi-san", the mellow voice resonated suddenly unexpectedly close and before the surprised jounin could understand how the other had managed to sneak behind his back under his very own eye, Iruka gave his both sides a cutting blow, making the muscles and ribs unleash a sharp jab of pain through his system before Kakashi felt a rough hold on his hair yank him back. The dark sky tilted violently before his wide eye and he felt the gravity pull him down to the ground when the hold on his hair switched to the fist on his chest as Iruka firmly slammed his body to the soil, spilling a good amount of dirt on both of them in the process. In a blink the jounin swung his legs upwards at the teacher above him, making the man back off and shield himself against the agile feet.

Then again, the firm hold on his ankle was a surprise.

Iruka gave the man under him a feral grin and twisted the captured ankle to the side. Kakashi snarled on the agonizing pain while forcing his body to ignore the discomfort as his other leg kicked out to the teacher's hip and the older nin was pleased as his heel collided with the man's hipbone, resulting with a pained hiss. He swiftly kicked out at the same spot the second time, making the darker man lose his hold on his other leg as the teacher hesitated on grabbing the kicking leg a little too long. Iruka rapidly moved away from his now free opponent and the moment Kakashi had gracefully hopped back on his legs he felt strong hands grip his upper arms and his body being pushed by the other. His heels dug into the slippery ground as he resisted the push and started to lean his own weight on the tanned body struggling in his now equally steel-hard hold on the well-trained arms. They pushed, twisted and bent the joined bodies and circled each other in a closed range while maintaining the hold on each others' arms. Low growls filled the air between the panting men as they wrestled under the pale moonlight and the multicolored street lights of their village, the play of light and shadow flickering on both their sweating and dirty forms and the veiled curves of lean muscles underneath the soaked clothes now clinging to their skin.

Kakashi let suddenly go of the tanned arms, thus making Iruka lose his balance momentarily and fall towards the other, then took the tanned neck under his elbow and pulled the fiercely resisting body further against his own. Iruka relocated his own hold from the other's arms on both the pale shoulder and the masked jaw, pushing against the hold the older man had managed to get on him. Their legs drew deeper gutters in the soil as the tanned body jerked and turned under the pale arm and the masked man tried to stay standing upright while his head was being violently tilted up and to the side by the muddy hand on his jaw and the other tanned hand clawed his skin as his own hand tried to pry it off of him. Then suddenly Iruka pulled himself almost flush against the jounin's figure and shot his knee into the momentarily unguarded stomach of his counterpart, creating a distraction enough to escape the slackened hold around him. Kakashi coughed a few times and rubbed his hurting abdomen as his eye narrowed both from pain and slight annoyance at the crafty teacher constantly slipping from his grip. The gray eye watched with mild interest the bristled and drooping ponytail being straightened back to pointing high up, or as high as it could with a clump of mud dripping from the thick hair, and Iruka brought his fists to his sides, bent his knees a little and turned his other side facing slightly the silver-haired jounin standing across the yard, the burning dark eyes drilling intensely into the copy-nin's figure.

Kakashi was by the man in an instant.

"You should have thought that invitation twice, sensei", rumbled the low voice a mere inch away from the dark lips.

Iruka snarled and dodged down to the side as the pale fists flew past his head and shoulder. Then the tanned fist found its goal on the pale man's side and Kakashi felt the air leave him momentarily, then the fist was replaced with a cutting kick hitting him on the same spot, sending him stumble from the force, and the tanned fists collided with his jaw, not once but twice, making his vision reel sideways for a second. Then the ever so nimble hands took a hold on the both sides of his head and once again Kakashi felt his body plummet downwards and meet the wet dirt under his back. Purely on a reflex his hand shot out before the tanned hands had left his head and Kakashi took a steely grip on the back of Iruka's head, pulling the tanned face stare at him from above. His other hand shot out to deliver a blow at the teacher's gut, but the younger man managed to take the hitting hand into his own while steadying himself with the other against the ground next to Kakashi's head, resisting the pulling of the pale hand behind his tan neck. The pair stilled, and through the panting and glaring the men felt their muscles tremble from the stress they had already been exposed to during the long day. Their breaths mingled in the already chill air as Kakashi slowly forced the sensei's head lower inch by inch, ending up with them both puffing hot air on each other's faces only three inches away.

Iruka's other hand pushed desperately against the slippery dirt as he tried to hold himself off of the man under him. The warm air hitting his face carried a mixed scent of woods and dark coffee, and he could feel the strong body's heat tickle his skin. As the long, deft fingers curled tighter around his neck an involuntary, strong shiver traveled through Iruka's spine, and he felt his nails dig helplessly into the dirt as his mind suddenly screeched to a halt. The second the same fingers spread through his tangled hair, grabbed a hold of his head and he felt himself being pulled down onto his side and then on his back as the older nin rolled on top of him, the lithe, taut mass of flesh touching every inch of him as it settled between his suddenly straddled legs, Iruka realized with a jolt that the strange shivers raking through his body had somehow intensified. It was something that his hazy, tired and adrenaline-filled mind couldn't grasp, leaving him completely at the mercy of the odd sensations filling his veins.

"...You're trembling, sensei", a low, hushed voice pierced through the fog in his mind and Iruka focused his dazed gaze at the masked man hovering above him, moreover on the gray eye watching him from only four inches away. Swallowing down the even stronger flood of the new, foreign sensations with considerable effort, Iruka took a moment to assess his situation and glanced over at the position he found himself being forced into. Kakashi had straddled his legs with his own, leaning his weight on his thighs resting on top of Iruka's that were spread to the sides, the pale hands having a firm hold on his tanned wrists pulled next to his head, and the masked face had inched towards his own with every passing second, making the breath catch in his throat and Iruka had to grit his teeth harshly together as yet another wave of strange tremors ran through him. A sharp gasp was heard on top of him and suddenly the body pressing down on him lifted itself hastily away and Iruka felt strong hands pull him into a sitting position. The hands steadied him from his shoulders and his lungs started to fill up with the much needed air. As the words from the other's direction flew past his loudly thrumming ears, the weird swirl of emotions disappeared from him as abruptly as it had interrupted their fight, leaving him with a dully throbbing, foreign ache within his body and feeling...

...immensely pissed.

When the talking masked face was fully registered before his eyes and the jounin gave his cheek a stinging slap for a reason beyond him at that point, it took the chuunin only a second to fill his veins with something completely different.

"Sensei, can you hear-"

"_Get off me!_"

A sudden, loud crack echoed in the yard, soon to be followed by a howl of pain that would have made even Kuromaru's blood freeze.

Q

"I'm telling you, you should have seen it coming! You've dodged them before!"

"'Huddub, 'ed'ei, id_ fuggig_ _hurd'_! Hea' i fadder, _plea'e_!"

"I won't be able to heal it any faster if you won't _shut up_!"

The dark, teary glare would have made even Sasuke cower. Iruka sighed and focused his chakra more efficiently on the bleeding mess of a once masked nose, ignoring the sounds of clear discomfort and pain as his fingers worked on the damaged cartilage and bones, slowly setting them back to their righteous places on the weeping nin's face. The mask had been lowered to reveal the damaged nasal bone area and Iruka couldn't help but feel the painful pang of guilt in his chest at every small whimper and hissed curse that escaped his mission partner's mouth as the pale fingers dug into the cool tiles of their bathroom floor.

"..Look, I'm truly sorry for what happened", Iruka heard himself murmur quietly as his eyes were trained solely on the healing process. "It didn't even occur to me that it would make contact."

If he ever doubted how deadly one-eyed stare can become, he was sure of it now.

"Drop the killing intent unless you want me to break your nose the second time, Kakashi-san."

The man under the green chakra narrowed the thundering eye further, but settled to glare at nowhere in particular. The sensei shook his head and grudgingly finished the healing in an uncomfortable silence between him and the accidentally maimed man. Then he sat back on his knees and turned his back at the still seething man sitting on the bathroom floor and put away the first aid kit that has proven itself highly useful in their mission. They'd need to ask for more supplies the next time they see their Hokage, apparently none of them ever thought that two adult shinobi could use bandages, ointments and salves considerably more than a class full of pre-genin.

Considering who they were, on the other hand, it should have been obvious to all of them.

Keeping his back at the dead-silent jounin, Iruka stood up with a pained hiss from his own injuries and peeled the dirty clothes off of him before tying a towel around his unwashed figure and turning around to see the other man already stepping under the shower, the soiled training gear and bloody mask being dumped on the floor in a muddy, reddish heap. The teacher rolled his eyes at the pouting elite's back as he gathered the discarded clothes from the tiled floor and went to put the laundry machine on while the other man steamed up their bathroom. As he came back Kakashi stood still under the warm water with his back turned at the chuunin, the blood and dirt mixing with the water on the tiled floor. The chuunin dropped his towel on the floor and stood under his own shower. He closed his eyes as the first drops hit his skin, washing away the mixture of gray and brown that had managed to cover the tanned body and dark hair. After a moment of vigorous scrubbing Iruka couldn't help but cast a careful look at the dark, silent form on the other side of the stained glass between the men.

"Erm..Kakashi-san...is..ah, is everything alright over there..?" He knew that he was skilled with basic healing, but one could never be too sure when messing with any other face than one's own. Embarrassing incidents were well-known to happen when the wrong tissue got connected with the wrong bone structures.

Things got messy and loud when that happened.

The dark figure gave him a slow nod after a moment and a quiet hum made its way through the air. "Maa, all fine now. That was mean, sensei. I'm bound to have a splitting headache now for sure." To Iruka's relief, a hint of smile could be heard in the said words.

He might be spared from being slaughtered in his sleep after all.

"In that case I should have done that ages ago. Maybe you'll get a glimpse on how bad my migraines are after decrypting your mission reports for six hours. That'll teach you." Iruka gave a tentative grin at the amused hum from the other man and stepped out of the shower to grab them a fresh set of towels from the cabinet. He wrapped one around himself after drying the most of his hair and hung Kakashi's own on the small rack attached to the cabinet door to wait for the man who still showered behind his back.

"In that case your methods should be investigated. Our youth might be in danger if that's your way of giving lessons to them", came the cool reply. With that Iruka stopped at the door, his hand resting on the wooden frame.

"...Saa, I'd me more concerned about certain misbehaving jounin. Especially the ones stuffed up with hay, Kakashi-san. [1]" Iruka felt eyes on him as he left the older man to finish his shower. After having dressed up his spare sweatpants, the teacher settled down under his blanket and with a tired yawn let his eyes wander over the black ceiling above him.

As the tanned chuunin drifted slowly to exhausted sleep and as the pale jounin nursed his once again hurting ego and the recently healed nose in peace before joining the other, little did they know what had begun to stir awake underneath their seals as the fourth day of their peculiar mission came to an end.

QQQ

_AN: Ha. We all saw that coming, didn't we.  
[1] For those not knowing I'll give you a keyword: Scarecrow.  
_


	7. Day 5

_AN: Short chapter, but an exception of the bunch. We all have short days and long days, neh? So no worries, the next ones will be longer again._

Day 5: No pressure, no point, no shinobi

When one becomes a shinobi, it gets drilled into their heads that what matters the most is succeeding the given missions and reigning in the unnecessary emotions. One may not like the situations they are forced into, one may even resent the ways the diplomacy is handled and curse the times when there's no other option than to use violence towards their fellow nin, but nevertheless, the unwavering mask of professionalism should be held on its place when performing the received mission parameters.

For some, over time, those masks become physically visible parts of their characters.

For others, however...

"One, two, three!"

"One more time!"

"One, two three!"

"Again!"

"I'd say that you're cheating, sensei."

"Saa, is the pot telling the kettle black - no way!"

"Ah-ha!"

"Damn it!"

"Didn't think I'd go for that one, eh?"

"You cheat, you were clearly going for paper first!" Iruka glared with a poorly disguised grin as he sat back and struck out his tongue at the laughing man in front of him.

"Maa, I warned you I've had plenty of practice in this, sensei", Kakashi drawled as his eyes crinkled in a bright smile. "Now, as our agreement was..." In mocking delicacy, he took the tray with the leftovers of their breakfast and passed it to the chuunin who, on his behalf, rolled the dark eyes as he took the offered dirty dishes from the very smug jounin.

"You know, I'm starting to doubt that your training is nothing more than children's games being modified for adults, with all the bell-chasing and now this", Iruka cast an amused look over his shoulder at the older man who followed him inside the house. The silver-haired nin settled to lean against the kitchen counter and observed in a lazy manner as Iruka cleared the empty plates, bowls and cups from the remnants of their food and drinks before putting them into the sink.

"Ah, but with all the crazy jounins wrecking your mission room it should have been obvious to you by now. You'd be amazed with the results we achieved by combining touch rugby with hopscotch", Kakashi mused and felt his grin spread even wider at the bright laughter bubbling past the younger man's lips. As far as the current mood was concerned, he wouldn't mind waking up more often at eight-thirty, even if it did clash with his carefully created reputation of an insufferably phlegmatic person enough to rival one young Nara.

"Undoubtedly so, Kakashi-san", Iruka snickered and shook his head as he started to wash the dishes, the wide smirk etched on his face. The friendly ambiance they shared was more than welcomed for him, and Iruka was glad that Kakashi didn't seem to hold a grudge about the issue of the broken nose. Even losing in 'rock-paper-scissors', of all things, couldn't threaten his good mood, as annoying as the boasting grin on the masked face was. "You make us chuunins sound so serious, though. I wish I could play games and get paid for it."

"Oh? And here I thought that that's what teachers do all the time", Kakashi cocked a playful eyebrow at the tanned man's musings. The brown eyes gave him a sternly pointed look, but the grin was there.

"Be my substitute for a week and then we'll see what you think, Kakashi-san." Iruka couldn't help but smirk even wider at the slightly concerned look passing in the gray eye. Sure, the civilian schools did have time for games and the teachers were considerately less stressed out compared to their shinobi colleagues, but Iruka did like his more serious-minded curriculum. Furthermore, if he remembered correctly, the closest the tanned teacher ever got to play a children's game at work was a rather nerve-wrecking version of hide and seek with Naruto, Kiba, Chouji and Shikamaru, his important folder of their grades and a box of explosive tags.

If the kids survived long enough to play games after becoming jounin, he was more than happy to sacrifice his personal desire for having fun in order to make them achieve that.

Including them surviving his wrath after the insane stunts, that is.

"Ah, but then again, as one could see you as the prime example of a capable chuunin, I'd say your rank is far from being dull, sensei", said the low, warm voice next to him. Iruka's hands slowed the scrubbing for the briefest beat, but then he fluently picked up the next plate and cast a sidelong glance at the gray eye he felt on himself, the unyielding gaze of the other man as unreadable as ever. Then he flashed a mocking smirk at the older nin.

"Are you trying to flatter your way out of today's chores, oh mighty copy-nin-san?"

Against his expectations, a mere lazy shrug met his teasing words and the gray eye stayed calm, the jounin still keeping his eye on the darker man. "Take it how you wish it, sensei. You're in charge of today's dishes and food, as yesterday you not only insulted me and used my property despite the shinobi protocol, but then broke my nose after dipping me thoroughly in mud, and now even lost in a simple children's game, _plus_, if my superior mind remembers correctly, yesterday you did offer to cook as a placating gesture for your rash actions." Pleased with his uncanny logic, the jounin smirked and waved casually as the strolled out of the kitchen back to the sunny terrace, leaving one gaping chuunin with his dirty dishes.

Not that he expected to silence the loud man long enough with that.

"Did your genius brain also remind you that you'd be preparing the fish today as you said you would, Kakashi-san?" Iruka called after the man and felt his eyebrow rise at the cocky glance he received over the other's shoulder.

"...Maa, but that was agreed _before_ you attempted to decrease the number of my senses with one, sensei. Thus, as the rules of compensating go, you get the fish as well", the older nin winked evilly and chuckled at the glorious blush spreading on the horizontal scar. Hell, he was really having second thoughts of sleeping so long every morning if waking up early meant spending more time with the smart and, admittedly, quite -

A sudden jolt of electricity resembling disturbingly his most powerful raikiri, surged through his upper chest. His hand shot out to get a hold on the wall to keep himself standing as he felt the strength vanish from his muscles. Through the numb haze he could see Iruka's lips move in what seemed like an alerted, shocked cry and the man rush to him from the kitchen, the jounin not really understanding why since the terrace floor seemed more than excited to catch him as the last threads of his consciousness dissolved into darkness.

Q

For active duty shinobi, as it was taught, the primary goal should be on succeeding the given missions. That goal on one hand also meant to take care of one's mission partners, since they were usually the key factor for everything to go well. But sometimes, far too often for everybody's liking, finishing the mission meant leaving someone behind, either injured and waiting to be collected later on, or dead and taken care of accordingly.

Iruka disliked both options.

One could suspect that to be the very reason why he was so keen on learning different barriers and traps that were rumored to have the largest range and best endurance among the chuunins, at least more likely than using them only for getting on his co-workers' nerves. Except in the case of the one specific, laid-back jounin who had been taken to the hospital the moment Tsunade had arrived into their house.

Iruka cast an absentminded look at the clear sky above him as he sat on the terrace, his tea long cold in his apathetic hands as his mind examined the things that had happened in the past minutes. Whatever it was that had floored one of the best jounins their village had, the teacher was sure that he wasn't going to like the news they'll send him. He had realized that they were hip-deep in something when he had spotted the disbelieving look of agonizing pain in the gray eye before the older man hit the ground. Seeing the faint blue glow inside the man's chest on the spot where he knew the seal was had been the final confirmation regarding the severeness of their situation.

Never before had he sent a summon for ANBU so quickly.

Having put his cup down on the tray, Iruka folded his hands on his lap and regarded the muddy mess they had created on the ground the previous night, the dark eyes unseeing as the vigilant mind worked on their newest predicament. As the work at the Konoha's ninja academy had trained his memory, the chuunin meticulously replayed their sparring sessions from each day up until the latest one the previous night, the man trying to find any clues that could offer any help for the medics and their Hokage in order to get to the bottom of Kakashi's collapsing.

For how long he sat there until he sensed Tsunade behind his back, he couldn't tell.

Q

"...The pathways? How can that be?" Iruka stared stunned at Tsunade who stood next to him in their training room, them both regarding the unconscious, silver-haired figure on the futon in their bedroom. Iruka could see the unsettling level of paleness on the already pale man and the slight stress tensing the the man's face, his own brows furrowing in deep concern at the sight which was unusual for him to see. He did know about the other's habit of coming back from his missions with chakra depletion more than once, but to actually see the man knocked out cold was a whole different matter.

"This can be taken as the first side effect, Iruka-sensei", the blond woman said with a quiet voice. "It seems that the amount of chakra that you two were given wasn't enough to keep the pathways in good condition. From what we have managed to gather, it appears that a certain minimum amount of chakra must be circulating in your system in order to reach every pathway within your body, not only the main paths but the minor ones as well. Otherwise the result would be that the body starts to dysfunction progressively, assumably beginning with the loss of the fine motor skills and ending with the downfall of the vital functions. We're not as independent from our chakra system as we seem to think, sensei. No wonder the chakra restraints work so efficiently", Tsunade cast a dryly amused look at Iruka, who felt a cold uneasiness creep up in his veins as the look in the amber eyes told him clearly that it wasn't all that the woman had witnessed during the years she had worked with chakra.

He'd be a fool for asking about it.

Instead, he focused on the matter that was undeniably his business as well. "Do you wish to examine my pathways as well, Hokage-sama?"

The blond woman nodded and they turned to look at the terrace where the sound of approaching footsteps caught their attention. After a moment Hyuga Neji stepped in sight, the pale-eyed young jounin carrying a tray of three cups and a tea pot in his hands.

"Good afternoon, Iruka-sensei."

In an odd sense, the calm, stoic smile on the younger shinobi's face did comfort him.

If only he didn't know better.

Q

Despite the sunny afternoon outside, the silence that circled the two shinobi and their Hokage felt like it had attempted to swallow the light itself with all the sounds of the surrounding world, not daring to interrupt the deep concentration of the pale eyes that scanned through the immobile, if only slightly nervous, tanned body. Having enjoyed their tea, they stood on the matted floor and Iruka focused his thoughts on the evenly breathing figure tucked in a bed a dozen feet away as he felt the young byagukan user stand closer to him than was necessary in his opinion. Sure, Neji's generation had lived in the time of peace and Iruka wasn't one to flinch away from a comrade, but he still valued his well established safety range both with friends and foes.

One could never be too sure when interacting with the equally distrustful individuals.

"...He's fine now, Iruka-kun." Iruka turned his eyes to Tsunade who regarded him with a sliver of smile on the red lips. "We managed to balance his system and I boosted his pathways for extra precautions. The brat has now an amount of chakra that should suffice to keep him walking and talking. He just needs plenty of rest, and I suspect that it will take until the next morning when he'll wake up again."

"I still can't understand how, Hokage-sama", Iruka frowned and leveled his leader with an apprehensive look. "If our situation could lead to serious damage then how come the chakra restraints that are used for prisoners and enemies don't seem to cause the same result?"

"Well, for one, the restraints are rarely used for a long period of time since the prisoners are usually taken care of quite quickly, but more importantly, those restraints don't take away the person's chakra, but merely block the use of it. In other words, they still have their chakra reserves intact but without the means to use them. That's why we also didn't anticipate for this to happen, as we reasoned that giving you any amount of chakra should cover the needs of your pathway system. It seems that we went wrong with that assumption." Tsunade gave Iruka a curt look and then shifted to watch as Neji was apparently finishing his check-up on the young teacher. "Well?"

Neji stepped a bit further away from Iruka, who thanked the boy in his mind for that small gesture, and both Iruka and Tsunade could see him carefully asses his answer. Finally the young man seemed to reach a decision and turned to look at the chuunin while his words were directed to their Hokage.

"The second and third sector of the right leg are close to collapsing, as the first sector on his left ankle is endangered. The lower 56th and 67th points have almost none chakra inside them, so that might explain why you were careful with putting some weight on your left leg, Iruka-sensei", the Hyuga gave the slightly blushing older nin a small smile, apparently the tanned man had only considered his muscles to be too sore, "As for the hands, the finger points are doing better than the ones on the legs, but they also need more chakra in them, plus the lower back has somehow received less chakra than the rest of the spinal area, and furthermore the 35th, 34th and 33rd points on the right shoulder have seen better days."

Iruka felt his cheeks blush further as he realized that to explain the throbbing ache on his shoulder that has grated on his nerves the past days. Why didn't they even consider that possibility?

"All in all you're in better shape than Kakashi-san was when they brought him in, but..." The look in the pale eyes turned into more serious and the mouth of the ever so calm-looking young clan prodigy turned into a grim line.

"You have collapsed once already, haven't you, Iruka-sensei?"

The moment Iruka felt Tsunade tense considerately and heard the woman cuss sharply he dodged down on well-honed reflex as the perfectly manicured fist flew past his head. He heard Neji call Tsunade in surprise but as his situation was he was far more interested in surviving the pummeling he was sure to receive once the now loudly cursing woman managed to get a grip on him.

"You _collapsed_? What _the hell_, Iruka? I thought I told you to inform me _at once_ when something happens!" Tsunade roared in outrage as she grabbed the fleeing sensei, bunching up the fabric of the man's black muscle shirt as she pulled him face to face with her furious eyes.

"But that happened before you visited us, Tsunade-sama! And the ANBU who checked on me said that it was only physical exhaustion-" Iruka could feel the woman's breath waft against his skin as he tried to free himself from the grip of the homicidal Hokage. If he was feeling fine this morning, he was sure to get that mishap corrected by not only his collapsing chakra system but the fists of their village's best medic.

How he loved the irony that was his current life.

"_To hell _with the things that an _ANBU_ says, they know only advanced basics to look at when doing the healing, you idiot! How can you act so stupidly, _what_! Do you have _any idea_ that this situation could have been avoided if you had just opened that goddamn mouth of yours the other day instead of pouting over a stupid bite mark and sipping your _tea_ _all the time?!_" Tsunade's bellowing echoed in Iruka's ears and for once he felt sorry for his students who had been unfortunate enough to experience the same treatment from him. "How about I give you a _good_ reason to lose your consciousness for, huh?!"

"_Tsunade-sama!_" Both Iruka and Neji shouted in unison, the other from the sheer rising panic for his suddenly shortening life and the other from the utter annoyance on the whole situation. Annoyance that turned into deep concern in a split of a second. "_Hokage-sama!_"

"_What?!_" Tsunade snapped to look at Neji and from the other's shocked face she whipped her head back just in time to see Iruka cough up clear liquid from his mouth, the tanned features suddenly pale and nauseous as the man heaved for breath with sickening gurgles bubbling in his throat as more liquid forced its way out of his figure. Although what turned the murderous urge quickly into professional healer's hard logic and efficiency wasn't the watery liquid half-vomited on her sandals.

It was the map of chakra points glowing faintly like dying flames under the teacher's black shirt.

The next things Iruka's reeling mind registered was him to be slammed on the ground on his back, two sets of hands ripping away his shirt and the other taking a hold on his head and tilting it backwards while the other seemed to work through a series of signs, as far as the enormous chakra spike he numbly sensed indicated, and before he knew it a shockwave of pain with a force he had never thought could exist surged throughout his body, reaching for every vein inside his system and flaring up every nerve and pressure point on its way towards his head that jerked and twisted in the firm hold kept on both his jaw and the crown of the head.

The last thing he felt and heard was a raw, wet scream of pain ripping through his choking throat as the electric blue light accompanied with searing pain invaded both his mind and his lungs and the hold on his head slacked for a second.

Q

_AN: Oh my. Oh well. Be patient._


	8. Day 6

_AN: I apologize for the intentionally pulled cliffhanger, and thank you for your patience and of course the ever so positive and bright reviews. I sincerely hope you guys enjoy this chapter. So get on with it already._

Day 6: Of parameters and variables

In order to successfully perform the given mission, the cell of shinobi was usually formed by different individuals who had skills on various fields, including the ones not directly connected with battle situations only. The chosen shinobi usually complemented each others' skills and were compatible in rank, which did increase the possibility for all of them to come back home alive and well. Sometimes, on the other hand, they were needed to focus on certain areas such as intelligence and infiltration, or searching and destroying, their needed traits then depending on the given order, which was another fact that also guided who were put in the same two or three-man cell.

The facts given, Tsunade had vaguely known what she was dealing with when she had formed her two-man cell, ending with an intriguing mixture of various levels of intelligence, perseverance, impressive observing skills and different temperaments. A rather unfortunate cell with both of its members located in their beds with two medics keeping watch over them. The amber eyes trailed over the latest patient she had saved from his ambivalent chakra system while Neji had summoned Shizune and others to continue her work as she then decided to have a few strong words with her ANBU squad. The faintly glowing map of Iruka's chakra points had vanished when the whole pathway system had been enhanced and stabilized, and the watery liquid had stopped its flowing from inside the bronze-skinned man. Now the chuunin appeared to teeter on the better side of the coin, and Tsunade was slightly pleased to see that Kakashi's situation had stayed unchanged for the time being.

However, that also meant the lack of any improvements in the man's condition as well.

The Hokage left her valuable patients with others and stepped to the eerily silent terrace that glowed dimly in the dark night. She released a quiet, tired sigh and nursed her hurting temples while she took a few, soothing deep breaths of fresh air. It had been roughly eighteen hours since they had taken the brat to the hospital and approximately twelve since the teacher had grumbled down, and with the feeling of a cold dread that had settled in her gut, Tsunade grudgingly acknowledged that they were far from finished with the future difficulties as her self-ordered research mission went forward.

It wasn't the first time she had second-guessed her approach on the particular mission that had been bestowed on two of her most reliable assets. When the outlines were created and the orders were given, she hadn't doubted a second if she had made the right choice on who would perform the task. She did know about the past history of the bickering duo, but also about the surprisingly well-functioning collegial relationship between them, the amiable mood being something that not many noticed beneath their entertainingly explosive communication. A deep frown creased her young features and Konoha's best healer felt her hands clench into tight fists on her side, resisting an urge to split the wall beam next to her figure in two as darker thoughts surfaced in her mind.

Even though her shinobis were considered as her tools, hell, _Konoha's_ tools, she had been determined ever since receiving the responsibilities of the Hokage to do anything in her power to keep them healthy, safe and sane.

A cracked blade became a dangerous burden she didn't want to impose upon her village.

Precisely for that determination she couldn't help but feel extremely pissed as she stepped to the dark yard, her darkened amber eyes scrutinizing the muddy traces of what seemed to be a struggle. She couldn't help but wonder if there was something she was missing with those two men. Something that was connected with their sudden collapses aside the obvious chakra failure. Her sight trailed one particularly deep gutter drawn to the ground, and seeing the other lines circling it she felt a dry smile form on her lips. Judging from the directions and weight of the traces, apparently the brat had had a challenging time with the sensei, who was proving to be an interesting case. Iruka seemed to run his thoughts and acts on much deeper level than it was first anticipated. Not that he ever gave himself away when they worked, but the edge was there, occasionally surfacing beneath the calm mask of a desk chuunin whenever the discussions wandered to the small blonde nuisance who had went off to train with Jiraiya.

On that small thought the painted lips tilted into a pensive line and after a short moment of recalling the past events, the tired woman shook her head.

That wasn't what she had missed. It was something else.

Something that was individually different in those two dimwits who couldn't even properly take care of themselves, which reminded Tsunade to have a talk with both of them after they have pulled through this misfortune. For Kakashi she could understand the man's ignorance towards his well-being, since the jounin hadn't seen himself in any light for a very long time, especially since the Uchiha child left their team. Iruka, on the other hand, was relied on having enough sense in him to think for both of them, him working with kids all day and observing the returning jounins in the mission room, from where they occasionally received a notification or two when the tanned man had suspected not everything to be well with his fellow nin. She didn't expect him to have a blind spot for himself, moreover for Kakashi. Her eyes narrowed and the fair-haired medic crossed her arms over her chest.

Then again, she knew that to be a high possibility.

After all, whatever it was, it was happening inside their bodies, and the blonde woman had lived long enough to know the fundamental factors that were both invigorating and sadly tragic epitomes of the philosophy she had been trained into, just like every shinobi of Konohagakure.

The man's body was as strong as his mind.

Thus, it was just as easy to conceal and break.

An alerted shout caught her attention and she was already on her way back in before they called for her. An aggravated, sharply hissed curse escaped her painted lips as the noises suddenly turned into panicking yells in the room with two of her sharpest blades with their lives on the line.

The wooden beam didn't stand a chance.

Q

"Shizune."

"Yes, Tsunade-sama?"

"Bring me their files." The order was clear.

"...Yes, Hokage-sama."

Tsunade watched as her dark-haired assistant and a close friend bowed curtly before vanishing from sight. She popped a painkiller in her mouth and took a gulp of tea to swallow it down, letting her eyes wander over the tired medic-nins in the bedroom. They had dark rings under their eyes and she could tell some of them had exceeded their normal amounts of chakra they usually used when healing, ending with an almost hollow gaze in their eyes. Nevertheless, all of their focus was still directed at the now sleeping two shinobi, one dark and one pale, who had been keeping them busy for the whole night. Tsunade turned her eyes to greet the first rays of morning sun that dared to sneak inside the room, the tiny line of light seemingly unsure if it was proper to illuminate such a gloomy crowd. Then she swirled the cold green tea in her cup and gave her crew a tired, but hopefully positive smile.

"Good work, everyone. I'll continue from here, so go home now to rest. I need you in good shape in the next week", her smile grew a bit wider at the mixture of disbelief and relief washing over the exhausted faces and slowly, one by one, they thanked their superior and took off to their homes, each of them casting one last look at the still figures they had struggled with the previous agonizing hours.

As the last person closed the front door, Tsunade gave in to her tiredness.

She slid further down the wall she had been sitting against, her eyes ffell closed and the tea cup tilted in her hands, and for a few passing minutes, she concentrated only on her breathing and the dull ache on her temples, counting the beats of her heart while her pulse calmed down while her inhales turned deeper. She had used a lot of her energy, but more than that it was the lack of proper sleep that had her mind turned into lethargic, sluggish mess-

...Katsuyu wouldn't like that pun, she was sure.

Chuckling quietly at her musings, she swigged down the rest of her tea, then snuggled more comfortably against the wall and gave a yawn before directing a tired glare at the sleeping forms before her. After the night's rather unexpected escapades and the narrow escapes from death or worse for both the healers and the healed, she was certain that the participated medics had indeed learned some new aspects on their profession. Even Tsunade herself had been surprised more than once over the long night. The memory of the last incident before dawn made a tiny smile form on her ever more so yawning lips.

This certainly was a peculiar mission.

Shizune found her fast asleep fifteen minutes later.

Q

"That hit the spot. Thank you, Shizune."

"You're welcome, Tsunade-sama", Shizune smiled and finished calmly her own meal, comfortable silence settling between the two women. Tsunade took one of the manila folders the younger woman had brought earlier and flipped through the well-worn pages. Shizune observed her doings discreetly over the lunch she had set for them in the quiet bedroom. It seemed that the older kunoichi had spotted something concerning the recent events. "What is it that you're searching for, Tsunade-sama?"

Tsunade glanced at the younger jounin over the folder and then turned to look at their patients. "I wonder...what was it that Iruka said he had spotted when Kakashi had dived head-first to the ground?"

Shizune munched on the last bite of her lunch and Tsunade could see the woman go through her mind for the answer her leader needed. Ever so diligent and well-organized, no wonder why the woman was so frustrated with her slacking on the paperwork. "First it was the glowing blue spot on Kakashi-san's chest, and then Iruka-san said that he could also hear a faint buzzing sound surround Kakashi-san. Like electricity." Shizune saw the red lips pull into a wry smile over her words, making her frown in question. The Hokage was onto something, and the aide had a feeling she was only needed to confirm the suspicions that had already formed in the woman's mind.

Tsunade gave a lighter sigh and smiled a bit brighter. This may be what she missed. All she needed was the men awake and answering her questions.

"..Well. The things you learn-" suddenly Tsunade's eyes narrowed and she closed the folder sharply, her amber eyes trained on Kakashi's immobile form. Shizune followed her gaze and for a passing, frustrated moment she suspected yet another hellish seizure, the younger woman not sure if their drained energy was enough for handling one more. Or two in the worst case scenario.

The sharp, hissed cuss on her left was all the clue she got.

Q

There were, in Kakashi's well-argued opinion, different kinds of silence.

Some of them had the nature of contentment, like the ones after an accomplished mission or a good meal, some carried a sliver of anticipation in them like the ones that usually took over the mission room when he harassed the particular honey-toned tyrant on the man's shift, and some were merely a sign of nothing significant going on at that moment, mostly meaning the maniac in green having been sent off on a mission, which usually gave enough reason to immerse oneself in good hours spent with adult literature.

Some types of silence, however, had a nature that made his neck prickle. The nature of an unpleasant, often ridiculously dangerous occurrence which was either about to happen or had just recently happened. An eerie type of silence which had become close to serving as the seventh sense for all jounin and ANBU members and, without a doubt, for all the ninja academy teachers as well.

For a moment he considered if opening his eye was worth risking his ass.

The fleeting thought made him realize his physical condition, which wasn't one to feel proud of in his opinion. His mind was a mess, his eyelids felt being swollen twice their size and it seemed that the bastard son of the mother of all headaches was playing drums with the both sides of his head. His legs and arms felt numb and heavy as lead weights and he wasn't entirely sure if he wanted to know what had managed to crawl under his mask and have an orgy on his tongue and rub itself against his tonsils. That and the ominous killing intent radiating closer than a feet away from his face was putting the wages quite well against the action of opening his eye, which had started to throb very irritatingly.

The only comforts he did manage to gather was that he was in a familiar bed and the growling voice didn't belong to the vastly feared tanned spawn of deranged demons. Then again, when he _did_ recollect whom the now gritting teeth actually belonged to, he became also highly aware of the fist that was already sent to his direction.

Splendid.

Pulling out every ounce of self-preservation skills he was sure to harbor somewhere, Kakashi dove to the right, barely escaping from the blow that landed squarely in the center of his pillow, the power behind the impact making the seams break and thus creating a rather impressive feathery cloud scattering around the room. The now wide awake copy-nin crept further away from the assailant who he sadly knew all too well to really even think he would have a chance to run away from. Amidst the commotion his sight fell to the right on a form of another fairly familiar person, and for some reason his focus wasn't any longer on the outraged Hokage but the sickeningly still figure of the usually very lively chuunin teacher. Then his ears caught on the cursing voice close to him and he turned his gray eye to look at the furious blonde woman, who, as his fuzzy brain pointed out, was someone to better pay more attention to instead of ogling an unconscious tanned man. If his concern was visible and that was the reason for her to stop ranting about _'wankers that shouldn't be jounins'_, he wasn't going to wallow on that. "What happened here?"

Tsunade snapped her mouth shut, closed her eyes with a frustrated sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose, apparently to calm herself down before she would do something to regret later on. Then she glanced under her brows at Shizune who nodded and left to the kitchen, although not without giving Kakashi a slightly unpleased look as well.

What has he done now?

"..Not even a minute awake and already asking questions. Get back to your bed, brat, before I have to drag you under the covers. You may not be fully recovered and as fun as it might be, I'm not in the mood of picking up your body parts from the floor any more than I already had", Tsunade grunted and wiped the floating feathers both from the bed and her coat before she sat back and observed as Kakashi slowly crawled his way back towards his bed, the man looking still weak and shaken. After the silver-haired nin had settled back under his blanket, save for the annihilated pillow, she saw him send a passing look at the younger man who seemed to have stayed unfazed despite all the loud noises around him. From the tiniest look of worry that passed in the gray eye, Tsunade could guess that the combination of vociferous cacophony and calm Iruka-sensei wasn't the most plausible scenario in the jounin's mind. That and the given look was carrying a very familiar undertone she had already witnessed earlier, if on an other person.

"He's fine, if that's what you're wondering. Well, in better shape than a few hours ago, to be more precise", Tsunade said quietly and answered the inquiring look in the narrow dark eye with her amber eyes.

"...What happened?" As much as Kakashi hated to sound like a broken record, he was fairly sure that to be the only question he had enough information to form. His thought was confirmed with the wondering look he received from the blonde woman.

"What can you remember?" The question was quiet but the intention behind it spoke volumes.

Kakashi fell silent and turned to look at the light ceiling, noticing now the sounds Shizune was making from the kitchen. He also noticed the unnervingly quiet and raspy breathing of the brown-haired chuunin a few feet away from him. "..Not much, unfortunately. We had breakfast. Sensei lost in rock-paper-scissors so he did the dishes. Then it all went black." He frowned. "No. Not black. Bright blue."

"Bright blue you say?" The keen interest was obvious in the woman's voice.

"Yes", Kakashi nodded. Then he turned to face the now very silent Hokage next to him. "And the constant chirping was honestly getting very badly on my nerves."

The amused snort hadn't been on his list of possible reactions from their Hokage. "I see."

"See what, Tsunade-sama?" Kakashi could have raised his eyebrow if he felt like doing it, but he decided to go for the lazy gaze he knew all too well to piss off many of his co-workers, Hokage included. Maybe he could irritate the wanted information out of her. Unfortunately, Tsunade waved her hand dismissively at his question, gaining a small annoyed frown from the pale jounin, and decided to wait until the chuunin had woken up as well in order to probe the spoken question.

If she had understood things correctly, then it was getting a bit clearer on what was happening with her shinobi.

"What else do you remember?" The amber eyes looked over him in a calculating manner and Kakashi wasn't so sure how he should respond to that look. His medical history was quite a tale to be told to the later generations, as well provided very informative lecture material for the new medics in training, and he was reluctant to think that they had yet another dozen pages to add to that neverending story of misfortunes.

In order to focus back on track, the copy-nin closed his eye, thinking back the previous moments. "I'm afraid there's nothing else to add, Tsunade-sama. But..why's Iruka-sensei knocked out as well?" With that he gave another unsure glance at the chuunin. He couldn't have attacked the man? Could he? He had heard about some jounins doing the unthinkable during their blackouts, but in those cases it was usually a result of a mental breakdown.

He certainly hoped his porn wasn't anywhere near the equation.

"You both collapsed due to your pathways kicking the bucket, so to speak. Iruka summoned us here and we took you to the hospital where we pulled you together before bringing you back here to rest, and then Iruka, who supposedly thought it unfair for you to be the only one to have some slack, went down as well. Which reminds me.." A firm fist slammed next to Kakashi's head and the once again peeved Hokage leaned a bit closer to the jounin who was fervently thinking back if they had done something to set her off so badly again. "...When has ANBU been adequate enough to act as the supervisor of your health, hmm?"

Blinking a few times at the woman's words, Kakashi felt the cold sweat push down his covered neck. The ANBU? What did she-

_...Ah._

He'll kill that damn kohai. Although, the dark glare set upon him did put a damper on his thoughts of living that long to do that.

Never had he been so grateful for Iruka to have the perfect timing in everything.

A suffering groan snatched Tsunade's immediate attention and the planned homicides were forgotten for the time being as the medic shifted her eyes to watch the awakening man on the other bed, meanwhile giving Kakashi hope to form his plans to escape. As if sensing the older nin's intentions, Tsunade casually grabbed a firm hold on his shoulder, thus effectively pinning him in place and ignoring the pitiful whine from the man. She wasn't through with him, nor had she any thoughts of letting the now groggily blinking chuunin go with any lesser punishment for hindering essential information from her. She had just been given a chance to give them a slap of a lifetime and she wouldn't give it up at any cost. They owed it to her and her aids.

"..Where..what happened..?" Painstakingly slowly, Iruka propped himself on a shaky elbow and rubbed his eyes which felt heavier than in ages, the eyelids being very uncooperative for staying up by his will and his chest burned dully, as if he'd been coughing up his lungs for the last ten hours or so. Even his throat felt raspy and torn, which did little to make his already ill mood any better. Then the still unfocused, dark brown eyes landed on the two shadows in the same room and Iruka gave another groan as the damn eyes felt obliged to make it impossible to focus on anything. "...Damn it..Kakashi-san? ...Are you there...?"

"I'm here, sensei." Despite his earlier worry over the other man, Kakashi felt a playful smile tilt his lips at the disoriented chuunin. Iruka's hair was a tangled mess at the back of the man's head and the dark eyes stared right at him, all bleary and confused. "I'm the more handsome blur on the right, in case you're not sure."

Ah, there was the missing blush.

"...Piss off, will you."

...And there came the rest.

Q

Shizune tapped the pen against the clipboard she had resting on her lap, the few papers already filled with detailed information on the past occurrences. The dark eyes followed the discussion between their Hokage and the two recovering nins, the men looking seemingly better after getting some edible and drinkable substances in them. The pen was lifted and scraped the paper again, the valuable words molding into valid sentences and further into interesting descriptions to be examined more closely in the future.

"..Why would our elemental base react to this? It's understandable for chakra to cause problems, but aren't the elements supposed to be the most stable foundation for a shinobi?" Iruka felt dumbfounded beyond comprehension and the tanned chuunin stared at the busty Hokage over his beloved tea cup as the man sat on his futon. This mission was proving his teachings wrong with a whole new variety of things he had to study more into once he got back home, and even though he wasn't all happy to endanger his own well-being for correcting some facts on their physiology, the thought of providing accurate knowledge for his students did miracles on his current motivation towards their mission. Others' opinions be damned, he was a teacher to the bone.

"We're astonished as well, sensei. But that's how it seems to be at the moment. I also doubted if that really was what had affected you beside the other systems going down before I read your files", Tsunade said with a purse of her lips. "Also based on what you both have just told me, and considering the things that happened when we healed you, I could fairly well confirm that, for a reason yet unknown, your elements are breaking free from your control."

"And how do you know when an element tries to get loose, Hokage-sama?" Kakashi laid on his bed with arms behind his head, turning his eye from its previous spot on the ceiling to face the pensive woman. This part was poking his interest much more than the everyday lecture about his chakra misuse, which had been the most discussed topic during the years of his constant hospitalization because of the damned red eyeball.

Tsunade pointed at the pale man with a slightly accusing finger, and they could all see the blazing, miffed look in her eyes. "For one, you tried to electrify both yourself and two of my medics at least three times. Kami knows why, but you did enlighten that part when you mentioned the irritating chirping, which could only refer to your raikiri. In other words, it was your lightning that tried to fry up your intestines as well my crew. As for you", Tsunade turned her glare at Iruka who gulped at the stern look of the amber eyes, "our sensei here thought it immensely funny to either try and drown himself or spill water all around the room whenever his body became active [1]. With that over-eager imitation of a waterfall combined to a simultaneous pulse of electricity I'm actually surprised to see this house still in one piece. Not to mention the limbs and the central nerve system of the very unfortunate medic who was caught between you two idiots when it happened the first time." Tsunade had a hard time to conceal her sadistic smirk as the looks of her favorite pair turned into the ones of being utterly sorry for all that had happened to their colleagues. Undoubtedly the men were able to picture the rather humiliating events in their minds, if Iruka's creeping blush of embarrassment was anything to go by, and seeing the infuriatingly lazy gaze of Kakashi turn into one of miserable shame did brighten up her mood for the shitty night's worth.

What pleased her the most was that she had more coming.

"...Furthermore", and now she was highly aware of her lecherous smirk that seemed to make even the everlasting tan on Iruka's face to disappear, "if what happened the last few times you two gave us double trouble was possible to be applied for others, then we might have also found a very...exclusive way to expand our knowledge on one very specific medicine."

Shizune was blushing furiously at this point, her pen wavering over the paper as if doubting if it would be proper to continue the data gathering. Noticing the assistant's reaction, Iruka and Kakashi shared an equally uncomfortable look, the men undoubtedly debating between each other if it would be wise to let the broadly grinning sannin in question elaborate her implications. After the brief exchange of looks, Iruka hated to realize him to be chosen for the thankless job of asking what the woman was baiting them for.

"...What..medicine..exactly, Hokage-sama..?" Iruka swallowed thickly at the flash of their leader's eyes. He knew that look. It was one of those gleams his students always had when they had thought up yet another 'genius' thing to make his day shittier than it had already been. The one-eyed imbecile had better compensate him well for this.

"Why, the various forms of viagra of course, Iruka-kun", came the smooth reply.

Some types of silence, in Kakashi's all the while growing list, were the ones one experienced just before the storm broke.

"..The _WHAT?!_" Iruka's cheeks exploded bright red and for a moment the other occupants in the room wondered if the now beetroot-red teacher would faint due to the abruptly unbalanced blood circulation, whereas Kakashi's eye had snapped open and attentive, bordering on the lines of very uncomfortable shock and mild interest, as if the man couldn't decide whether to make himself deaf with an accurate lightning bolt or to patiently hear the rest.

"You heard me, sensei", Tsunade chuckled at the absolute look of mortification passing the astoundingly red features of the chuunin. She would have all the fun she wanted with this. "You see, we learned that when the elements of two persons mingle without the control of a cast jutsu that would give them the wanted form and dynamics, even for the briefest times, the result is the increasing of one's libido. Although I do feel that we need to study that phenomenon a bit more, since it might also be a very personally projected reaction between individuals. But, what made the whole thing even more interesting wasn't the act itself, but the rather.._selective_ nature of it, which we witnessed the most exceptional way", the busty woman purred and directed her eyes towards Iruka who now seemed to contemplate the challenge of scorching himself to death with his lukewarm tea. Kakashi had sat up completely and directed a keen look at the very much blushing Shizune who gave Tsunade pleading looks of letting her leave the room before all hell broke loose. Not that she was given that luxury, as her superior's smile radiated clear enjoyment over their situation. Tsunade was hell-bent on getting her money's worth back from the pained struggles the two men had put her through, and she seemed inclined to take everyone else down with her.

"...It was only Iruka-sensei who got the reaction."

As Kakashi later added on his list, some silences appeared to have a nature of inevitable doom in them.

Even the daylight itself cowered from the silent chuunin.

"...You mean to tell me..with all due respect, Tsunade-sama...that..I..._on_ _electricity?_" The shell-shocked features were a new addition for Kakashi's archives of the teacher's many faces, but for what he could tell when reflecting his own facial muscles with the tanned, well, crimson ones, his own masked expression wasn't far behind resembling the chuunin's.

"If you mean to say _'erection'_ then yes, you did have one, sensei", Tsunade countered calmly and then pensively scratched her chin. "Well, several, in fact-"

"_SEVERAL?!"_

"...Exactly how many, Tsunade-sama?"

"I lost the count after four...any numbers to throw, Shizune?" Tsunade looked over to her assistant. Shizune seemed to have stopped moving altogether, and if the things were to continue at their current direction, she was undoubtedly in a need of a handkerchief any minute.

"Well, never mind, the point is that he got them and you didn't, brat. I'm curious to know why."

"Maa, were they at least good ones? I have a reputation to maintain-"

"_Could you two please stop discussing about my accidental hard-ons?!_"

"Now, now, Iruka-kun. Don't be so bashful. After all, every professional shinobi need to know just how big and treacherous opponent they're facing."

"Or nonexistent and harmless."

Any other time Tsunade would have been immensely proud of her chuunin who could single-handedly outrank an elite jounin, but as she and Shizune both dislodged the tanned fingers from strangling the pale throat and forced the swinging fists back and away from the masked face, she now understood why others had so heavily questioned her decision for the shinobi best suited for the research mission.

Q

The well-manicured hands pulled back from two well-trained chests and Tsunade gave a pleased hum at the new seals embedding in them.

"...Now it should be sufficient, but let me know if any of the previous symptoms come back and we'll have another look at you", Tsunade said with a smile as she watched the faint blue glows of the seals settle inside the two shinobi sitting in front of her. "If it feels too much then tell that as well, since we still need to keep this research in reliable condition in order to use the information later on." She stood up from the floor and stretched her sore muscles, already planning on soaking in a nice, long hot bath after she got back to her quarters. Never mind looking younger than her age, she felt more than justified to act like an old hag from time to time when it suited her goals.

"...We will, Hokage-sama", Iruka muttered with a scowl and watched as the light died out on his chest and the familiar feeling of heavier muscles crept over his body. His muscles didn't ache as much than before, but the familiar feeling of them being used in harsher ways than usual was still there. That and the subtle tingling of new chakra flowing through him was an interesting sensation to say the least.

"Do we still focus on taijutsu, though?" Kakashi asked and nodded his thanks at Shizune who finished up healing his left cheek. Even while recovering, Iruka's fists and fury were clearly not to be underestimated.

"That would be the wisest, since offering too many factors to your fighting might also create a false effect on your development. It would be the best if you two would reflect your matches even more closely than before and focus better on the mandatory stretches." The blond woman nodded at the copy-nin and then her eyes lightened up as she remembered something. "Ah, that reminds me, have you tried out the massage oil I sent you the other day?"

Kakashi wasn't really sure how much more maiming a recently healed body could actually take.

Still, he shook his head in answer all the same and resigned himself for the yelling of the century, as he could sense the tensing on the chuunin next to him. Despite knowing that in most cases he was right no matter how things were viewed, the silver-haired jounin became grudgingly conscious that their earlier brainstorming over the existence of the tiny oily substance wasn't going to get an understanding response from the other party.

The rising anger didn't even bother to stay hidden in the woman's voice. "Care to explain _w__hy?_"

For her small surprise, it appears that the over twenty-year-old professional killers could quite easily resemble two fearful three-year-olds.

"..We, erm, saw that the stretches were sufficient enough, Hoka-" Iruka's voice died out at the furious look directed at him. Damn them and their naive thoughts of getting away with their plan. He felt like the eight-year-old he was when he was caught pranking for the first and the last time by the Sandaime Hokage. He couldn't sit properly for a week after that, and not that others ever needed to know, his left ass cheek still gave a dully throbbing ghost of the once stinging pain every time he visited the old man's grave. For some reason, the ache was back as he stared at the seething Godaime just a couple of feet away from him and the surprisingly silent genius bastard.

"If I may remind you, Iruka-sensei, those seals in that book are made to match your needs and the needs of this _mission_ you're trusted to _complete_ without _any further_ complications nor disobedience towards my orders. Should either one of you fail to do so, you'll answer for your actions directly to me, the following violent punishment included. _Do you understand me,_ _shinobi_?"

The hastily nodded respond from both men did lessen her urge to slap them to the next month.

Except.

A sharp slap sent Iruka tumbling on his side to the futon and Kakashi jumped to the side to avoid being hit by the falling man. He saw the utterly aghast look in the dark eyes and looked inquiringly up at their Hokage who crossed her hands under her ample cleavage. "That was just the footnote, sensei. I did have a word with the ANBU who neglected to inform me about your previous collapse and trust me, he'll think twice before doing that again. I suggest you do the same." Then the woman turned on her heels and nodded at Shizune who bowed lightly at the men before teleporting away. Tsunade sighed and then cast a last look at the duo who flinched a bit back from the woman.

"I'll be off now, since the other things in the village need my attention as well. I'd advice you to rest for the day and then proceed with your training tomorrow. I'll come and check on you as soon as I can. Meanwhile, carry on with your mission." She stopped forming her seals and gave a bright grin at the men. "And Hatake, take separate shower turns for a couple of days, we don't want any repetition of the previous night. Oh, and Iruka-kun, watch out for any thunder, will you." Her smirk vanished from sight as she completed the seals and disappeared.

It took them a while to understand that they were no longer in direct physical danger, and both the jounin and the chuunin slowly released the breaths they had been holding. Iruka groaned and rolled on his back on the futon, the teacher rubbing tentatively his painfully throbbing cheek. That punch was definitely going to leave a mark. "Oh, hell. For a moment I thought we were done for."

Kakashi chuckled and laid down next to the other man, looking lazily up at the ceiling once again. "Same here, sensei. You almost were, though."

Iruka gave a heavy sigh, which turned into a large yawn stretching his jaws. "True, but it's good to know that the stupid ANBU got his share as well. It doesn't pay off to trust those guys, apparently."

"Well, I wouldn't say that. You seem to trust me well enough, sensei", replied the equally tired yet amused drawl next to his ear.

"Sure. Having an annual ulcer is always fun", Iruka slurred with a lazy chuckle at the silver-haired nins mocking growl. His body felt increasingly heavy and unwilling to move even an inch, apparently the strain their systems had gone through was more than they were capable of working with without the proper amount of sleep. "..I think it would be the best if we got some sleep now that things seem to have settled...Get off my bed, Kakashi-san."

Only light snoring met his sleepily whispered words.

QQQ

_[1] I tried to validate the fact that Iruka-sensei's element truly is water rather than just an invention made by the implications of his name, but as the lacking facts had it, I settled for the watery chuunin, even though it might be wrong. So let's just enjoy the ride, neh?_

AN: Towards the new day we go. Looking for bones to chew, so if you find one, you know where to throw it.


	9. Day 7

_AN: Forgive me for being rather late with this chapter, and thank you for all the reviews and ideas on how things were to evolve with the two senseis. I can assure you, many of you were correct on pondering what things will happen. But not in the ways nor in the order you might have anticipated. _

_Anyhow, I once again hope that you'll enjoy this chapter._

_Day 7: Personal chemistry_

As the gradually increasing noises that swept through the once silent streets put an end to the withdrawing night, the citizens of the hidden village of Konoha once more indulged themselves in their morning routines. As on the countless mornings before, the children ran down the streets towards their schools or dashed for the favorite toy before being swept back to the breakfast table, as the adults, both civilian and shinobi alike, after more or less well-rested nights, set their minds towards the dawning day and its obligations, with more or less enthusiastic moods.

With her village in the hands of the capable subordinates, the blond woman sighed tiredly as her body sunk under the warm water. The creases on her face softened and her mind pushed the last night's worry and fear away as she knew all to be more or less in order in the small light gray house a few blocks away from her quarters...

...where an abrupt sneeze escaped the dark-skinned shinobi who was curled on his bed.

The dark eyes peeled slowly open and scanned the surroundings warily through the sleepy haze as the drowsy man sniffed tiredly and rubbed his itching nose. He felt warm and content, which was a bit odd, since he didn't usually feel as such when having slept in his bed. That and he had also apparently slept very heavily, that also something he usually wasn't either capable of achieving or downright avoiding out of pure instinct. His sleepy mind dismissed the otherwise alarming clues concerning his current situation as a tiny yawn tore out of his mouth and his eyes fell shut, not that he resisted one bit as his limp body felt obliged to offer him a valid argument for staying in bed. Opting to lull himself back to the delightful new-found world of sleeping like a log, the academy sensei took in a deep, content breath and stretched his arms while he rolled onto his other side with yet another yawn stretching the sun-kissed jaw -

Only to choke in surprise and roll hastily back over to the other direction, and thus, in all his disoriented and ungraceful glory, the tanned man fell promptly out his bed with a dull thump. Regretfully, his mind hadn't been yet awake enough to supply him with the thought of having already slept on the edge of his futon, therefore there not being any more of the mattress left on the side he had retreated in order to get away from the unknown, large warm object that had contacted with his body. Hindsight had never been his cup of tea.

While growling and cursing under his breath due to the ego-bruising encounter with the hardwood floor, the dark-haired shinobi whipped his spinning head back up to give a better scowl at what exactly had the suicidal nerve to infiltrate his personal space.

...Which happened to be a snoozing jounin.

The perplexed chuunin stared long and hard at the napping form of a silver-haired male spread very cozily on the bed, the masked man having hogged up almost over half of the narrow mattress with his lean limbs stretched out in every direction available. Slowly, Iruka picked himself up from the floor and sat down cross-legged to face the lightly snoring elite snuggled up on the wrong futon. The pair of dark eyes narrowed into thin, ominous slits as the recent occurrences were slowly put into their places in the chuunin's gradually awakening head.

Collapsing chakra pathways.

Frenzied elements.

Slapping Hokages.

Instructions to take better care of themselves.

Despite counting the happened facts several times it still didn't add up to explain why the heck there was a jounin in his bed.

An almost silent, wide yawn stretching the dark fabric snapped the teacher's attention back at the slumbering nuisance, who seemed to make it his case to conquer the whole bed now that the chuunin wasn't occupying his side of it. The pale arms and legs stretched out gracefully before settling into more comfortable angles all over the bed, a tiny content huff of breath leaving the masked lips. It appeared that the infamous man of thousand jutsus was also a master in the art of bed-snatching.

At least the man didn't kick in his sleep.

The teacher glared hard at the slumbering figure and tried to form a plan to make the man bolt away from his linen. Of course, he knew their beds were given by their Hokage and were used only until the mission ended, but Iruka was a man with a rather strict sense of marking and guarding his belongings, even if only temporarily. Something one seemed to develop after having his bag rigged more than thrice in one week by mini-nins at the beginning of the teaching career. The dark eyes turned to regard the jounin's side of the room, the now fully functioning mind categorizing and examining the seen property. He could go with the classical case of boxed-up porn, but there was no guarantee for Kakashi to wake up enough to really understand that Iruka wasn't a missing-nin out to make the man's life miserable. They didn't carry any weapons with them when they entered the house, but based on his experiences during their acquaintance, Iruka was already fairly well informed on what the silver-haired sleepy-ass was capable of. That man could undoubtedly kill even with a single strand of pubic hair if motivated hard enough, and Iruka was certain that his ego couldn't handle his last glimpse of the living world being a thick, curly piece of hair struck in any vital points of his body.

That would be an embarrassing reason to haunt people later on.

Messing with the man's masks was definitely out of the question as well, if the previous incident was considered. Besides, the teacher didn't want to anger the other the first thing in the morning, since, as annoying as the thought was, Iruka had started to enjoy very much the mornings they spent together. Not that they ever could leave the snippy comments and jabs out of their communication, but for them at least trying to have a civil conversation over breakfast for more than ten minutes seemed to suffice well enough. An exasperated sigh left the dark lips and Iruka's body slumped in a deflated manner as he faced his defeat on the matter. There was nothing he could legally do to claim his bed back, and there was no way for him to climb next to the faintly snoring man, or even worse, use the pervert's bed to continue sleeping. Kami knew what the porn-driven lecher had done under the covers. On that thought the teacher felt his cheeks and ears set on a fiery blush and he shook his brown-haired head vigorously in order to discard the suddenly surfaced lewd and disturbing images out of his head. What the jounin did in his bed wasn't for him to speculate, nor for his vivid imagination to fill in the blanks.

Kotetsu and his hyper-hormonal horny hoard of buddies were clearly rubbing it off on him.

The dark eyes regarded once more the evenly breathing figure, noting the slightly rumpled dark clothes on the pale body and the subtly wrinkled mask tilted a bit askew on the pale face, as well the pair of closed eyes behind the mussed, silvery mane. Iruka's brows furrowed as he spotted the almost invisible tension on the man's face. It might be that the man was still very worn out, since he hadn't even reacted to the unmasked presence near his head nor the quite loud awakening of the chuunin. The tanned cheeks heated up once more as the teacher remembered Godaime's words on how they could have actually avoided the whole thing if he would've just said something about his collapse to Tsunade when she was there for the first time. He did feel bad for the other man and the thought of it being his fault didn't lessen the queasy feeling that suddenly twisted his gut at the uneasy realization while the first stray rays of light crept inside their room.

He had endangered his mission partner.

He should have known better than to take the ANBU's diagnosis on face value. He was a teacher, for crying out loud! It was one of the most important traits for them to ask for a second opinion before settling for one. For him to disregard Tsunade's expertise and just go with a stranger's basic diagnosis of '_exhaustion_'...It was a rookie's mistake, something an instructor of his caliber shouldn't even _deign_ to consider doing. Another, more silent and somber sigh left the dark lips and the dark eyes glanced tiredly at the silent yard, a sliver of the outer world visible between a gap on their bedroom and training room doors. He should have voiced out his doubts of something being wrong when Kakashi seemed to feel out of breath more than usual after a couple of matches.

He should have been more aware, as he was trusted to be.

Sometimes life was a bitchy teacher.

The dark hands pressed hard on the tanned temples and Iruka closed his eyes to take a few calming breaths. It was useless to sulk on the matter now. The lazy bastard was safe and well asleep (if the happy sniffling against Iruka's pillow was any indication) and the teacher himself felt way better than the previous day. If they now took their health issues more seriously than earlier and reported their progression better to the Hokage, they should be able to prevent any other similar dramas from happening. He would need to observe the pale man more closely, though, since Iruka highly doubted that the man would voluntarily tell if anything was wrong with him.

A low grumble beneath the mask and the following session of pillow-nuzzling pulled the tanned chuunin out of his melancholic thoughts, and despite all they have been through so far in the terms of total humiliation, injured muscles and bruised egos plus the constant fraying of nerves, a soft smile crept on Iruka's lips at the sight of the blissfully sleeping older nin.

He should do something more constructive than pouting on the bedroom floor.

He owed that to the man.

Q

Looking at the results, he gave himself a pleased smile.

The kitchen cupboards were cleaned both from the inside and outside, the spills and crumbs carefully wiped away and their beloved stashes of coffee and tea were orderly put on the counter next to the cup and the mug. Even the coffeemaker had been thoroughly cleaned and washed, and the bubbling sound of boiling water filled the otherwise silent ambiance in the open kitchen. Iruka nodded, pleased with himself and then took the cleaning bucket and rags towards the bathroom, which was deemed to be the next target on his list.

There was no better method for clearing the mind than thorough housecleaning.

Q

The steaming tea cup awaited him on the terrace while Iruka took back in the tatami mats after having aired them on the terrace and given them the last wipes with a cloth before putting them back to their places. After the training room was finished and there was nothing else left, except for the dim bedroom he didn't feel like intruding since the older nin was still sleeping, the teacher sat down on the warm terrace and gave a small yawn. Four hours of cleaning and he already felt sleepy. Apparently his body hadn't recovered as much as it first looked like. Nothing a decent cup of well-brewed jasmine tea couldn't fix, and with a happy smile the chuunin took a slow sip of his first morning tea.

The slight disturbance in the air was all the announcement the teacher received, and the chuunin couldn't help but purse his lips in displeased manner.

Damn with the masked men and their lousy timings.

"...Good morning, ANBU-san", the teacher said and the dark eyes slowly turned to face a white porcelain mask and the silent elite wearing it. The ANBU's posture was as calm and laid back as ever, but it wasn't enough to fool Iruka to dismiss the ever so tiny tension on the black op's body at the smoothly said words. Tsunade had indeed had a discussion with the elite, and if the previous slap still faintly tingling on his cheek was anything to go by, Iruka was fairly sure that for once the special assassin was grateful for wearing a mask. "Have you been well?"

A barely visible, wary nod was all the answer he got. Even the snort was absent that time. Either the man had undoubtedly heard about Iruka's sadistic wrath or he was far too transparent with his current facial expression. Not that he felt any obligation to hide anything from the masked nin. Nobody interrupted his first morning tea repetitively without repercussions.

"I see. You've been a rather big pain in my ass from the start, you know. Not for the first time, you come and interrupt my morning tea without any consideration of the appropriate time and place. Then the other day you and the other dick stripped me down to my boxers and ogled me kami knows for how long while I was unconscious and unable to defend myself_._.." Iruka continued as he slowly stood up with his tea in hand and eyed the armored nin with a intensive look, a look that took a more malevolent glint as he spotted the tiny sign of the man being uneasy in his company. Sure, the man could deck him the instant he was deemed as a threat and he respected their ranks for keeping the others safe in the village, but damn it, he had a lot to vent, and by all seven hells the silent elite was getting his share of it. The tanned cheeks flushed the tiniest bit at his next words and Iruka couldn't help but feel that he was also scolding himself on some level. Forcing the embarrassment down, he lowered his voice into a more intimidating tone. "...And then you go and not only give us a wrong diagnosis but also fail to inform our Hokage on the matter of me collapsing after our match, which, quite frankly, is rather inconsiderate and unprofessional. I'm sure you have been informed what we have been forced through due to that tiny slip in information, and with all due respect, I'm tempted to continue where Tsunade-sama left off."

The man sure could stand rigid.

He had to give the masked nin credit. Not many had survived this far without breaking down under the scrutinizing glare. Then again, seeing the ANBU survive his trademark scowl did enlighten why the currently knocked-out jounin didn't even blink under the same circumstances without the added decibels. Not breaking the eye contact, the already miffed chuunin took a long sip of his tea and cocked an eyebrow at the irritating guest. "Should I order you detention? Make you write an apology for giving a wrong diagnosis for three hundred times? Take you on my lap for good spanking for being such a naughty little ANBU you obviously are?"

The sharp twitch of the armored shoulders spoke clearly about the man's total surprise towards the chuunin's unexpected choice of words. At this point Iruka had to hide his lower face behind his cup and bite his cheek in order to smother the rising snicker. He enjoyed way too much fun in confusing people. "Although I'm pretty sure that that particular punishment has already been served, since putting some weight on that right leg of yours seems to be quite unappealing at the moment." Not that he could ever be sure of it, but the alarmed shift of posture after his words was telling enough. If he didn't know better, he could have taken the assassin as one of his students being told about their misbehavior. Maybe Hokage was right and they always remained as children, no matter what rank or age they represented.

If that was the case then Konoha must have been in need for a hell of a good tawse [1] for centuries by now.

Deeming that he had spoken his mind sufficiently enough, for now, he gave the ANBU a genuine, small smile. "You can inform Tsunade-sama that we're doing fine. Kakashi-san's still asleep and I suspect that he won't wake up until the next day. As for myself, I'm feeling much better, if rather tired at the moment. Otherwise I'd say that we're good to continue our mission when he wakes up. And don't worry, I'm not one to hold grudges when people make mistakes, since this was something we all failed to predict." He took the final sip of the tea and cast a mockingly innocent glance at the now more relaxed assassin. "...Alas, of course, I can't promise that for your _sempai_." The visible urge jerking the man's hands for making the signs of the teleportation jutsu made his day.

Speaking of which.

Iruka pointed the man with his index finger, a gesture which obviously pressed a button or two within the ANBU's system according to the tiny, appalled jerk of the masked face. "That reminds me, I _do_ have a small request for you, if you could be kind enough to assist with it." After the fleeting moment of considering, a brief nod was given, and the teacher answered it with his own. "Excellent. Please wait a second." With that the teacher left the confused elite on the terrace as he went to the kitchen to retrieve a paper that appeared to be a list of some kind. "Since I can't leave the premises before the mission is complete, can I trust you to deliver these ingredients to me by this evening?" The ANBU took the offered list and the eyes beneath the white mask scanned the written items before lifting to give a flat stare at the smiling tanned man before them.

"Even one snort of disobedience and _he_'_ll_ be the one greeting you during your next visit, ANBU-san", came the quiet threat served with a sunny grin.

As the smoke from the rushed jutsu vanished, a smug smirk found its way on his face.

He should clearly play the '_pissed-off copy-nin_' card more often.

Q

A small, black notebook was dropped on a dark-clothed lap followed by a heavy sigh. Iruka rubbed his drooping eyes and turned to observe the sunny yard as he took yet another sip from his tea. Having the modest lunch finished, the brown-haired man leaned against the wall beam, or what was left of it after what seemed like the doings of one particular blond healer with impressive right hook. He still had yet to collect the other half from the yard where it was still stuck to the ground in a rather extraordinary angle. A small groan escaped his mouth and he slid further down the beam, ending in a half-laying position on the wooden terrace floor with his hands crossed over his chest. The dark eyes shot a look at the clear sky above, the vast plane of blue expanding over his dear village and their training house.

The ANBU had delivered the needed ingredients in a rush, and considering the record amount of time it took the man to complete his task, Iruka was pleasantly surprised to verify that indeed all items on the list had been taken care of in such a short time. Threatening to unleash the sharingan user on the others' necks was definitely worth the second try. The bronze-skinned hands fiddled with the notebook resting on his slacks as a frustrated huff left his lips. He still hadn't reached any breakthrough with the clever seals, no matter how many times he had thought that finally he may have gotten it right. That and Iruka wasn't happy to admit that he was facing an infuriatingly unsettling situation.

It was only past noon and he was already getting out of his mind.

More precisely, he was bored to the bones.

Shikamaru would be shocked to learn that his former sensei was indeed capable of that.

The dark eyes cast a sidelong glance at the closed bedroom doors on the other side of the training room. The house had never before been so silent during their residency, neither had it felt so hollow before. A tiny pout twisted Iruka's lips and he fixed the closed doors with an annoyed scowl. Did the other man really intend to stay out cold all the way until the next day? The teacher didn't have much experience with the recovering from chakra depletion, but being well-educated on shinobis' physiology, he did know it to be highly unlikely for anyone to be able to recover without any form of nutrition. With that thought the pensive eyes swept over the remnants of his light lunch.

...Well, he did need _something_ to do.

Q

The tray gave an apologetic clink as it was put back on the counter with heavy hands, and beside that the only sound in the sunny kitchen was a defeated thunk as the tanned forehead met the cupboard door.

That certainly was a waste of both time and effort.

Iruka had waited the man to smell the food and then wake up for a good hour, keeping the food as close as he dared to approach a sleeping jounin, but all he managed to arouse was a murmur on something concerning snowballs and missing slippers before the older nin had promptly turned away to face the wall, leaving the temperamental chuunin sending imaginative daggers at his back. Hell, the bastard didn't even sneeze, no matter how close the food was brought to his masked nose. Never before had he wished to own an evil mind enough to just yank the irritating mask off the asshole's face and shove the food down the man's throat, or better yet, the obviously useless nostrils.

With an irritated growl, the tiny dish of vegetable curry was thrown to the fridge for later devouring. Then the dark eyebrows cocked at the sudden hypothesis forming in the fuming chuunin's mind. Maybe he really did damage the man's sense of smell when he accidentally broke his nose. He quickly discarded the passing idea, there was no possibility for Kakashi to carry a permanent damage since they healed him well and fast after the unfortunate encounter with Iruka's fist. Then a far more plausible explanation popped into his mind, and the kitchen's atmosphere took a turn for worse as the glaring eyes narrowed their look at the sliver of silver hair visible through the doors.

It could be that the prick was playing him.

Iruka felt his jaw tighten up and his teeth settle into a tight grit as his temper flared at the current thought.

If that was the case, he would soon have a violently butchered jounin in his bed.

All he needed was the verification for the justified kill.

With quick, silenced steps, the chuunin strode back to the bedroom and stood over the target of his currently ill mood. The temperamental man knelt down next to the still figure with trained ease and leaned over, eying all the visible information he could possibly get for busting the older man for tricking his fellow shinobi. The posture of the man was calm and still, but with an air of a relaxed sleeper instead of a predator luring its prey. The even breathing was deep enough to border on the line between REM state or a person just about waking up, but the eye movements clearly indicated towards the man seeing dreams rather than gaining consciousness. What was with the twitching eyebrow, though? As he leaned closer for a better look, a sudden wave of odd tremors rushed up his spine and his palms and neck started to sweat unexpectedly.

He never saw the hand coming before his vision tilted drastically.

As the suddenly blurry seconds cleared out, Iruka was painfully aware of three things.

For one, it appeared that the sleeping jounin still have their instincts and reflexes very well not only intact but definitely in full function as well, which basically meant that their bodies were on alert on their own. Secondly, Kakashi was not only deeply knocked out but also having a quite vivid dream, which, as Iruka now to his utter horror had found out, made him a grabby sleeper.

As the furiously blushing teacher took in his own position with his neck under the jounin's steel-hard arm and his chin resting against the dark-clothed chest, thus his face being way too close to the other's, while the rest of his body was frozen on all fours in a significantly obscene posture next to the man's bed, he was also very efficiently informed on the subtle buzzing sound wafting around both of them and the sudden pulse of high-charged electricity that had ferociously surged through his body the moment the older man's arm had wrapped around his neck.

Thirdly, he had cum into his pants.

Not that Iruka had any time to dwell on the mortifying thought, since the alarmingly familiar tingling of electricity dancing on his skin started again and despite ruining his pants a moment ago, he could feel his lower anatomy stir quite eagerly at the given stimulation. Not wanting to experience any sort of repeat performance of the earlier, Iruka started to pull and twist in the hold in order to dislodge himself from the pale arm. His whole body had started to sweat like being hit by a heatwave and the continuous waves of tremors washing up and down his body gave him enough of a terrifying clue on what was happening.

Never mind being on an important mission, he was going to kill the ones responsible in more ways than one if he survived this.

Accompanied with a steady flow of curses, growls, groans and poorly stifled gasps and whimpers, the chuunin trashed against the hold he had been unfortunate (or plain idiotic in his own rapidly forming opinion) to get himself into, and to his further shock he wasn't able to lift nor turn the heavy, well-trained arm even an inch to slip away. Apparently the jounin's strength wasn't deterred by the sleep either. Iruka's panic grew at the same speed with the throbbing erection, and the dark eyes darted frantically between his rebelling groin and the sleeping jounin's face. Sweat drops fell into his eyes and he could feel a prominent puddle form under both his clenching jaw and the parts of his upper body sharing the unwanted contact with the older nin's. This could not happen to him. This was ridiculous. This was-

The prickling sensation of lightning bolt charging the air around them tripled his urgency to _get the hell away_ from the other man. The tanned legs pushed and twisted against the floor and both the knees and toes slipped and scraped against the increasingly wet wooden surface in a vain attempt to get enough friction to pull the tanned body from under the hold of the grabbing limb while the bronze-skinned hands pushed and tried to lift the pale arm. As a hefty drop of precum smeared against his boxers' fabric amidst his struggles, which only served to make him buck his hips on reflex, a quiet keen arose from the back of the tanned throat. The moment he caught himself actually considering the pros and cons of taking care of his hard and dripping problem while being held by someone easily dubbed as his arch nemesis, Iruka was more than ready to scream his lungs out in desperate frustration.

"Maa...quiet."

At those two gruffly slurred words, the whole body of one stressed-out academy teacher went stiff on the spot, the breath being caught in his throat and his wide eyes staring at the masked face and the closed eyes above the dark fabric. The gods had to be kidding him. With a baited breath, the agonizingly aroused chuunin observed the stirring jounin, the seconds turning into eternity in the panicked man's mind as he waited for the imminent opening of the fluttering, lone gray eye. He could never heard the end of it if the other man caught him like this. He could never again face the man properly, not to mention ever sparring with him anymore. At that thought Iruka felt his blood turn cold as the previous day with its discussions came to his mind.

Tsunade would never accept his request to abort the mission based on an ill-timed boner.

As the chuunin was preparing himself for the shameful encounter with his superior, suddenly the arm lifted from his burning neck. Seizing the heavenly opportunity to escape, Iruka hastily pulled back and scrambled five feet away from the older man , only to watch in puzzlement as the S-class elite flopped on his side, scratched his masked nose, sighed tiredly and began sniffling again without a trace of being even slightest awake during the tiny escapade. As suddenly as it had appeared, the buzzing sound faded away as the skin-prickling charge of electricity died from the air, leaving the two men in the bedroom with only the sounds of breathless panting and even breathing mixing together.

Still his eyes trained on the jounin to detect if anything else was about to happen, the previously tanned, now immensely flushed man scooted backwards to settle against the wall opposite the sleeping elite. His pulse was beating erratically, it was hard to get enough air into his lungs, his skin felt feverish and wet, his whole body was aching and throbbing badly, and not only were his clothes thoroughly soaked but also disgustingly sticky in certain areas. On the plus side, his pants were no longer four times too small.

He needed a cold shower to drown himself into.

Q

It was noon. No, way past noon judging from the angle of the light, the narrow, gray eye observed under a heavy lid. Maybe evening already.

At least the loud birds had quieted.

Taking a slow, deeper inhale, Kakashi awakened his senses fully to take in his current situation. He was in bed, he was quite drowsy and there was a strange damp spot on his chest. He was fairly sure he couldn't drool that much in his sleep. Or sweat, even though there was a faint trace of manly odor surrounding him. Either way, he had slept well, perhaps even a bit too well in his professional opinion. This mission was clearly messing with his previous training. Not that he minded much, since if he recalled correctly, the past few missions did leave him unhealthily sleep-deprived. Plus he recognized the familiar ache of chakra depletion. Now why did he ache as such? As his mind supplied him with the memories of the previous hours, a quiet, thoughtful hum flowed past his lips. If he was meant to rest the last of the exhaustion away, he didn't feel like arguing with the offered permission to slack for a few more hours, and with that happy conclusion in mind, the masked nin pressed his head more firmly against the pillow-

He didn't have a pillow.

The earlier tiredness gone in a flash, the silver-haired man bolted up on the mattress and stared incredulously at the lump of feathers and cotton still sporting the dint from having his head on it. His pillow had been annihilated by the angry Hokage if he remembered correctly, and as his gray eye slowly made its way towards the second futon laid a few feet away, the chilling sense of dread settled in the copy-nin's gut as his sight fell upon a familiar collection of explicit literature piled up next to the mattress he didn't occupy at that moment. He had slept in a wrong bed.

In any other occasion, it usually didn't include him being fully dressed up.

Which led to another, more pressing question creeping into his head.

Where was the bipolar owner of the invaded futon?

Since he didn't spot the man in their bedroom, it didn't take much to deduct that the teacher was somewhere else. Not that Kakashi ever felt enthusiastic to actively pursue his doom, the jounin slowly stood up and walked on wobbly legs to the bedroom doors leading to the corridor. He peeked his head around the door and looked down the dim corridor leading to their kitchen, which also happened to be chuuninless. Since there was no sound of shower coming from the bathroom, the last three options left were the toilet, the terrace or the training room.

Knowing the tanned demon's obvious love for sunlight, the terrace was the most apparent option.

But first, he needed some caffeine in his system.

Shuffling on silent feet towards his priced source of the black nectar, the older nin started to feel something persistently picking on his interest. He halted in the corridor and the sharp eye took a moment to regard the scenery before him. It was all oddly...fresh. A trace of fresh, citrus-y scent wafted to his nose and as his eye swept over the kitchen's surfaces, the pale legs carried the man backwards at their bathroom door. Carefully, the copy-nin opened the door ajar and peered in, only to be greeted with the same scent accompanied with something much more distinct he couldn't currently place his finger on, and the room was way neater than he remembered from the previous time they had showered. The check on the toilet was the last confirmation for Kakashi's suspicion.

Their house had been cleaned.

Humming a more cheerful tone, the sharingan user walked once again towards the empty kitchen, noting absently that not only were the surfaces pristine white and well-scrubbed, his coffee tins had been organized and his mug was neatly placed next to them. As he opened the coffee maker's lid to pour in some water, his surprises seemed to continue as he realized the machine having been washed and wiped as well.

He was pretty sure he had the currently missing younger nin to thank for that as well.

After a second of staring the kitchen machine in stunned silence, a bright chuckle escaped the masked lips and Kakashi shook his head in amused manner. Never had he thought to see the day when Iruka would tend to his coffeemaker. The tanned man was a tea addict to the grave and it entertained his mind to imagine the other trying to figure out the wonders of coffee brewing technology, moreover to find the best ways to clean up the gadget. Not that Kakashi hadn't enjoyed immensely the coffee the man offered him from time to time during their mornings. Either the teacher had memorized the machine's manual and the instructions on the tins for a good pot of coffee, or the bugger was possessing some hidden talents on that field. For the more argued reasons the first option was the most expected in the geniuses mind.

"...Kakashi-san!"

Speak of the devil itself.

Having set the beverage brewing, Kakashi turned towards the surprised shout coming from his right. He was rewarded with the sight of a wide-eyed chuunin staring him from the threshold of the terrace, looking as if the man was about to lunge at him. The idea of him sleeping on the man's bed flashed in his mind and for a fleeting second the copy-nin hesitated between staying still or fleeing fast from the obvious tongue-lashing he was about to receive. To his surprise, though, instead of being filled to the brim with utter irritation, the dark orbs reflected visible worry on the tanned face as the teacher reached him with a couple of hurried steps. The small, hesitant smile was enough to make him worry for his health, though.

Smiling Umino meant black-eyed Hatake.

"When did you wake up? How are you feeling? Are you hurting anywhere?"

Way for the chuunin to make him feel like a two-year-old. To stop the mother-hen of a sensei from rambling any further and pulling his jounin's ego down any more than it already was, Kakashi gave the man a bright smile with his eyes and waved his hand dismissively, enjoying the pleasing sound of a tanned jaw snapping shut. "Maa, sensei, I'm not dead, as you can see. In fact, I'm feeling surprisingly well. But thank you for asking. Although I don't mind the extra care if you feel up for nursing this one little copy-nin all better", he finished with a suggesting wink, putting a very efficient silence between them two in the kitchen.

Then again, so did the worry in the chuunin's eyes get quickly replaced by the more familiar, fiery annoyance, and to his interested note, Kakashi saw the brown ponytail bristle visibly as the younger man's feathers got ruffled.

"Get bent, pervert. Have you eaten yet?"

Q

As the sky dyed bright orange, Kakashi watched it from the terrace with a fresh cup of coffee in hand. His ears registered the bustling sounds coming from the kitchen where the chuunin was preparing their supper, the man having thrown him out and insisting on managing their food by himself. That may have also been the result of one dirty joke too many about chuunin housewives, but that was a trivial detail. Iruka was a good cook and he wasn't going to complain for getting fed without effort.

He felt like Pakkun suddenly.

"Here you go, I tried to wake you up earlier to eat some, but it should be good even when reheated", the mellow voice said next to him as Iruka stepped to the terrace and set the supper between them, it being a good-smelling curry of some sort. A smile found its way to the masked lips at the teacher's words, especially when presented with a rather nice blush on the scarred cheeks.

"Sorry to sleep so heavily, sensei. I'm sure it's all very good since you're the one who cooked it."

Correction. A very nice, deep blush with a hint of cherry on the scarred cheeks.

"...Is that so..? Well then, I guess I should make you cook the main dishes a few times as well, if you're about to grow so lazy in the art of cooking that you're starting to compliment my food, Kakashi-san." Despite his face feeling like on fire, Iruka managed to smirk teasingly at the older man. He did catch the compliment for what it was, but to decrease the heat on his face called for drastic measures. The mockingly dramatic eye-roll made him chuckle, for he was happy to see that the man was feeling well enough to take part in their teasing. He gave the man his curry and they ate in comfortable silence, both shinobis lost in their thoughts of counting both the angle and strength needed for both splitting a wooden beam with a diameter of fifteen inches and making half of it land in a surprising angle on the ground with apparently half of it stuck in the soil.

"..They had had a rough night apparently."

"It seems so, Kakashi-san."

"Did you already examine it?"

"Based on my calculations she has stood diagonally towards it and used her right fist. Although, I wouldn't put it past her to continue the punch with her left, as you can see the more stomped ends of the splinters on the sunken half and compare them to the rest next to you", Iruka said calmly and pointed at the split wooden beam next to the copy-nin, who silently examined the damage. "How on earth she didn't take part of the roof with it is still a small wonder, though."

"She must have punched horizontally, but for the beam to split rather than get wholly dislocated from the porch..." Kakashi murmured, his brain counting different possibilities for the phenomenon.

"It had a small crack in it already, right below the splitting point. See here", having finished his curry, Iruka scooted on the other side of the jounin and ran his finger across a faintly visible line crossing the side of the beam, "it was already weak from this seam and the heavy punch had hit most likely just above it for it to break so clean."

"Ah, that explains it. Well spotted, sensei", came the slightly amused compliment by the low voice.

"Oh shut up, you-", Iruka turned his face to glare at the other-

Only that the half an inch between his and the other's face was making it increasingly hard to concentrate on his thoughts that seemed to have vanished from sight for undefined time. The unwavering, narrow gray eye looking right back at his own wasn't helping either. As the faint scent of coffee and woods hit his nose, Iruka suddenly jerked his head back and to his shock hit it against the broken beam behind him, his eyes watering up in instant at the painful throb in his skull. A pained curse was hissed through his lips as he cradled his head in his hands, but before he realized fully what was happening, pale hands had taken a hold on his head and a deep chuckle was heard a bit closer than a second ago.

"Watch it, sensei. You may have more sense in you than Naruto, but that's easy to lose if you keep hitting you head like that", Kakashi said and patted the furiously blushing man's head. "It wouldn't do to lose such a bright teacher from our village, now would it?" The sight before him was unheard of, with the intelligent and cautious chuunin nursing his dark-haired head, all flustered and subdued. The setting sun colored the red cheekbones with a hint of gold, and out of strange urge taking control of his actions for the briefest moment, Kakashi brushed the dark strands with his masked mouth. Suddenly he felt his gut throw a somersault as a scent all too familiar to him attacked his sensitive nose and for the shortest second he lost himself into his thoughts.

On a hindsight, he had been trained to stay constantly alert for a reason.

The minute the hard skull of the chuunin teacher collided with his already countless times abused masked chin and his vision swam from the sheer pain shooting through his own head, Kakashi let out a yelp of pain and relocated his hands from the dark hair to his masked face to keep his teeth and jaw from falling off. He did register a groan of pain from the vicinity of the other but decided to concentrate on his own agony for a minute and in his desperate attempts to keep the scarred eye from weeping. This was humiliating.

For a long moment, the two adult shinobi, a chuunin and a jounin both seen as two of the best among their peers, held their hurting heads in heavy, thick, and overly embarrassed silence.

Resigning himself with a hellish migraine for the rest of the night, Iruka looked up at the other man, not really sure what he was hoping to see. Whatever it had been, a teary-eyed copy-nin was not one on that list, though. Kakashi was clutching at his mask as if his life would depend on it and the minute their eyes met the thundering eye was squinted tightly shut, either from the pain or the sheer panicked try to prevent Iruka from seeing the tears leaking out of the dark eye. He had been already quite shocked from the extraordinary actions of the other so seeing the man weep after getting a bone-shattering hit to his jaw was just a logical continuation on his growing list of strange things happening to them. Setting his own hurting head aside, the teacher slowly sat on his knees and lowered his voice into soothing hush. "You want me to take a look at it, Kakashi-san?"

"I'mma'ight," came the muffled answer with a head shake.

Iruka let out a mental groan at the man's antics. Why did they all think him to be best suited for the egoistic bastard? "No you're not, I can see it from here. Let me see, you may need healing-"

"I 'aid I'mm'a'ight!" Kakashi snapped and fended the reaching hands. He was already focusing his chakra to heal part of the damage before fetching a healing bandage and Iruka's mothering nature was not helping him with his once more hurting ego. He was a grown man, dammit!

"For kami's sake, stop being a complete idiot and let me have a look at it! I'm not even going to take off your mask, you know that!" By now Iruka could feel his blood boil at the accusing stare he was getting from the other. Damn the jounin and their ridiculous sense of pride!

"That's not the case here, sensei." Ah, finally he could talk without sounding like a toddler. Kakashi fixed he tanned man with an even more narrow and menacing look over his mask. Not that he doubted the man's words, but he couldn't let him touch his chin. Sparring was fine, but he would be the only one to nurture his face, apart from the medics, that is. His nose was just an exception."I'm not letting you close enough to maim me even more than you already have."

"..What?" Came the now equally pissed question.

"You heard me."

"You could have dodged that, you idiot! You're a jounin!" Iruka's voice was gaining more volume with each passing syllable.

"Maa, forgive for my insolence towards your hard little head, but has it ever occurred to you that maybe it has something to do with me being trained more likely to _kill_ rather than _dodge_?" He knew he was crossing the lines more than it was healthy, but he couldn't stop his mouth once it got the chance to vent all the confusion and tiredness at the schizophrenic nuisance pestering him at the moment. As he watched the dark orbs set into bright flames he knew the first boundaries were down in the chuunin's polite upbringing, and it wouldn't do not to go all the way down, now would it? "Ah, but then again, how could you possibly know that with your ass being always safe behind the mission desk or the school-"

"For your information, I'm fairly comfortable with the idea of killing you right now, _jounin-san_", Iruka laid out his words on a heated tone. To think, that for a one, passing minute, he had actually considered-

"A mere tea cup is hardly a threat, _chibi-chuu-nin-chan_."

"_Enough!_" Iruka heard himself shout out in his teacher voice and before he knew it, his hand swung through the air at the older man's head with a practiced ease achieved from the many times he had scolded Naruto and his gang. Kakashi dodged the swing with ease and Iruka already cursed in his mind for missing the infuriating man.

Neither of them expected to see a wave of cold water following the path of the passing hand.

Even less for it to impact the silver-haired head with a loud splash.

The dark eyes stared stunned at the equally scandalized lone gray, the only sound on the terrace coming from the small droplets of water hitting the wooden floor.

This was going to be a hellish month.

QQQ

_[1] Thank you Sushi4Brains for introducing this fine object to my dirty mind. Check out 'The Tawse That Refreshes'.  
_

_AN: Ah. Done. Be patient, dear readers, the oil will have its moment._


	10. Day 7, Evening Night

_AN: The day seven continues, and I hope that you'll like it. I sincerely thank you for the encouraging reviews and messages, for they make me want to offer only the best for you guys. I hope you have a good time with this chapter._

Day 7, Evening / Night: Comparing notes

_Tap._

_Tap._

_Tap._

_Tap._

_Tap._

_Tap._

_Tap._

_Tap._

Many had said that he could use a slap or two occasionally.

_Tap._

Preferably several with a mean wrist move for extra effect.

_Tap._

Even to him, though, this was a new way to cool his head.

_Tap._

His bad mood having faded away as rapidly as it had surfaced, Kakashi blinked slowly a couple of times to get out of his stupor while his mind kicked in a gear or two in the silver-haired head and tried to wrap around the sudden turn of events he was currently presented with.

_Tap._

He had been slapped to the head with a cold wave of water.

_Tap._

Slowly, the ex-ANBU raised his hand to his head and examined silently the damage. His hair clung to his skull and face, the silver strands feeling like being blown to the side by a strong gust of wind and then glued to stay put. Then he pale hand patted through the man's clothing. The upper part of his dark singlet was thoroughly soaked. His shoulders and upper back were cold and still dripping wet and his mask was unpleasantly damp now that his breathing seemed to warm up the fabric covering both his mouth and nose. That and his ears caught the monotonous sound of water drops tapping against the wet wooden floor under his body, not to mention the even pattern of breathing mixing with the noises brought by the surrounding village life in the background.

_Tap._

For his further astonishment, he found his counterpart utterly speechless.

_Tap._

Iruka gaped at him with the dark eyes wide and the jaw dropped open, the remnants of their squabble still lingering on the slightly flushed cheekbones. The sensei seemed to have frozen on the spot, and the tanned hand was still held in the air, as if the man couldn't decide whether to drop it or give a new go with it.

_Tap._

It seemed that neither of them dared to break the silence that had been dropped on them.

_Tap._

Once more, the dark gray eye looked over his demeanor and the jounin's mind worked on the given twist, taking notes as he counted the facts. He had again snapped without any warning, which was unexpected and thus mildly unsettling to him. It usually took a great deal to reach his boiling point, but based on the couple of days he could suspect his uncharacteristically explosive temper having something to do with him being without almost all of his chakra, furthermore with his rebellious element that couldn't be picked as the most placid one. The unpredictable nature of lightning might apparently have its downsides as well. On the more current level he felt like being thrown into a cold shower, which was quite interesting in itself, since the temperature of the water hadn't reflected the boiling nature of its sender on any level. But, with all things considered, one fact proved to be far more interesting than others.

_Tap._

There had indeed been no jutsu involved.

While gradually getting over his shock, Iruka spotted a new, far more intense glint appear in the lone eye. He could already feel his alertness triple as the eye narrowed its look and the jounin focused his attention to him, the man having undoubtedly processed and examined the whole situation during the timid minutes when they had stared at each other. The chuunin lowered his hand slowly to his lap, but the muscle tension of the said limb didn't relax. He might need it still.

"The training room. Now", the jounin said suddenly and without further warning scrambled up and strode briskly into the dim, ascetic room.

Iruka blinked a couple of times at the empty spot that just previously had a masked man on it, the actions of the older man speaking strongly against their usual choreography for what it came to their bickering. What in the world was the man up to now?

"Come on, sensei, we don't have all evening", came the hurried words from the other room.

For a passing second, Iruka opted to take something to throw for extra precautions if the silver-haired pest was planning something objectionable for him. Then again, if the copy-nin had wanted to make him suffer for the water trick he would have done it already. With a concerned frown darkening his face, the tanned teacher stood up and cautiously followed the other's footsteps into the spacious room. As the jounin turned around to give him a long look, Iruka cocked a hesitating eyebrow at the unusually excited look in the narrow eye, all of his senses yelling at him to run for it as far as he could, the high fence wall be damned. "Kakashi-san...?"

"Dodge", was the only word he received before the man vanished from sight.

Without a second thought, the chuunin's reflexes kicked in the moment his sight caught the pale fist that was sent towards his chest. He blocked the punch with his crossed arms, but was still forced to take couple of steps back due to the power behind the hit. Before his mind was able to catch up with what was happening, Iruka ducked to the side and turned around in a nick of time to block the second attack of a double punch directed at both at his shoulder and stomach. The third and fourth blows followed seamlessly the previous ones, and to his dismay Iruka noticed Kakashi to pick up speed with every following hit.

"Wait! Kakas-! Could you just-! _Watch it, will you!_" The teacher shouted while he did everything to keep away from the all the while quickening assaults, ducking down to dodge high kicks and rather feeling than seeing his hands fend off the landing blows. After sending the other stumble past him, the teacher spun around on his heels and took a few running steps away from the strangely acting jounin, only to hear the following footfalls resonate next to his just before his escape was cut by a swift kick at his abdomen. He managed to seize the kicking leg and with a quick move pulled the older nin out of balance, making him fall to the floor with a thump. With a growl, Iruka dropped himself on the man's stomach with his knee and slammed his hands on the dark-clothed shoulders, lowering his blazing eyes to scowl straight at the floored man. "That's _enough_ now! What has gotten into you?"

"Take a guess, sensei." Kakashi smirked, took a hold of the tanned arms while his legs bent under the lean body of his opponent, and kicked the teacher flying over his head in an impressive arc. Iruka gave a pained grunt as he landed on his back on the floor and scrambled hastily on his knees after having shaken the pale hands off his own, both men staggering quickly back up and fixing the other with a calculating look. Kakashi shifted his weight from one leg to other, his whole posture taut like a predator playing with its prey. "I know you're far brighter than the average nin, so it shouldn't be that difficult to understand what I'm aiming for. Unless you're as hard-headed as your students, neh?"

"What are you- _whoa!_" Iruka didn't get a chance to end his question as the sharingan user once again plunged himself within the hitting range. Iruka's mind raced with the punches and kicks he blocked one after one, his thoughts trying desperately to keep up with the rest of the situation. Why were they sparring all of a sudden? Why wasn't he given any time to compose himself for it? Why did Kakashi observe his hands so keenly with every block and blow-

"You're trying to repeat what happened." Iruka blurted out suddenly and stopped to an abrupt halt, thus stopping Kakashi as well, the jounin's fists being pressed against the chuunin's forearms.

The older shinobi nodded briefly. "Well thought, sensei." Then the man took a step back and gave two strong hits with his own forearms, forcing Iruka to steps backwards as the teacher tried to keep his head from being hit. "Tsunade-sama said that our elements are breaking loose, right? I'm keen to see to what extent it has already progressed."

_Oh, I could give you a briefing on that, bastard..._Iruka felt the heat rise to his face at the passing thought while the rather vivid images concerning the earlier clash of their elements popped into his head. There was no way for him to reveal voluntarily what had happened while the jounin had been unconscious. The hits from both fists and feet continued to land on the tanned forearms, and Iruka was certain that he would have a rather impressive set of dark marks on them the next day as he kept on defending himself against the powerful blows. Then the tanned cheeks took a turn towards a more grayish color scale as a far more unpleasant idea knocked down the immaterial doors in his mind, almost making him trip on his own feet.

What if the same thing happened now?

"...What makes you so sure that it will happen?" Iruka tried to keep his voice steady without the nervous pitch that was determined to creep into it, hoping that the man took his winces as a sign of hurting arms rather than having disturbing thoughts currently infiltrating his head and doing unspeakable things to the mental barriers on their happy way. He couldn't let the man smell the fear that was slowly furnishing a cozy nest in his gut and inviting its friends over for a tea. He couldn't even finish the question in his head as to how the older nin would have reacted earlier if he just suddenly had woken up to a...

Furthermore, it would be impossible to spar in that state!

"Well, you see, that's the point. I'm not", Kakashi said and offered a pair of brightly smiling eyes before he delivered a roundhouse kick at the younger man. "It could also be connected to something very different than sparring. That's why I'm interested to see if the elements will react to what we're doing at the moment." Through his smiling eyes, he was already searching for an opening in the man's defense. Time to reel back on track. "But for now, I'd like us to continue where we left off-", in a flash the dark brown eyes stared at the smiling pair of mismatched eyes just a few inches away, "-and see how far I can push to get that reaction out of you, sensei."

Iruka snarled loudly and dodged down, aiming his fist at Kakashi's side. Without hesitation, Kakashi took the swinging fist into his own and twisted it sharply, gaining a hiss of pain from the tanned man. Iruka yanked his hand back to safety and took a few hurried steps away from the jounin, his dark eyes setting into a narrow glare as they followed each twitch of muscles on the pale man's body while his brain worked vigorously over his newest problem. He had close to nil possibilities to talk himself out of the situation, and if he started to protest too eagerly, the bastard was sure to notice something being amiss, and knowing what kind of pain the man _then_ was in his cinnamon-colored ass was the last nail on his metaphorical coffin. No matter how he mulled the issue over, it all came down to one solution.

He had no other choice than to fight his way out of it.

The teacher looked over his opponent who seemed to wait for his next move, the gray eye steel-hard and narrow. The jounin had been out cold when the mishap had happened, and the man didn't seem to remember all of their discussions with Tsunade, since there hadn't been any lewd comments yet concerning his problems with controlling his lower anatomy (hell, even he had forgotten it before the incident happened). He just had to keep his head cool and senses alert, furthermore avoid the man's touch the instant when he would start to feel...strained. After making the decision and setting his mind on the customary mission mode, Iruka bent slightly from his knees before lunging himself at the other man, the chuunin's eyes drilling into his opponent's still form. The moment he reached the ideal distance, Iruka pulled his fists back and with a quick spin lashed his right out to land the initial hit before joining it with the left. With trained gracefulness, Kakashi stepped out of reach for the flying fists and rounded the man before sending him stumble on the matted floor by a mighty blow into the tanned back. Before he could grab the man for further beating, though, Iruka danced away from his hands and dashed to Kakashi's left with silent steps, the man apparently aiming once again for the blind spot.

A tiny smirk crept on Kakashi's hidden lips. Getting a desired reaction or not, he was certainly getting kicks out of this match. His eye made contact with the burning brown ones, and not for the first time the smile grew wider underneath the mask while he blocked a combo of two high kicks followed by four remarkably accurate blows. Even though the whole man was a joy to watch, the chuunin's eyes were a sight worth staring on their own. Never before had he met someone so complex and passionate with their emotions, not until he got introduced with the tanned firecracker. He was naturally taken aback by how quickly the chuunin's moods shifted during their interaction, but he was specifically intrigued on how the man could both at the same time reveal and conceal his true thoughts so smoothly. On some level, it felt similar to talking with an ANBU. They had had their training on reigning in their emotions and keeping them out of their work, but also how to use them for their advantage when needed. On many occasions, the teacher's open display of emotions could be seen like a hidden blade, if one knew where to look for the well-honed edge. The next crossing thought made Kakashi falter in his steps for the shortest second.

_"- - __that doesn't mean that I'm not scared of you on some degree, Kakashi-san. Maybe that's actually the key factor as to why I want to fight with you. Have you ever considered that option?"_

"You're leaving yourself open, Kakashi-san", said the mellow voice before Kakashi felt a mean kick land against his side that sent him flying a couple of meters before hitting the ground. In seconds he rolled away from the cruel heel that whammed against the matted floor. He pushed himself up with a huff and hopped a few long steps backwards to dodge a set of blows directed at his torso. His mind was turned into full gear now and his keen eye followed every step the tanned man made towards him, the deft pale hands and legs blocking the delivered hits mostly on trained reflex rather than with guided thought. He felt his gut stir for some reason at the man's words and his sharp look turned into a piercing glare. How much of that blade stayed in the sheath when the teacher was with him? The jounin nearly stepped into a fist as yet another peculiar thought unceremoniously dumped his mind into a deep and dark gutter.

How open did the man leave himself?

"_Kakashi-san!_" An annoyed, unnecessarily loud bark made him halt completely as his mind was snatched back to pay full attention at his likely doom. For some reason the dark scowl that was thrown at him by the narrowed pair of brown eyes made him feel like a genin failing on his first lesson on taijutsu. He dared to give a better look at the unimpressed academy teacher who clearly took his time to observe him with unmistakable signs of disdain present on the puffing man's face. Then the chuunin took a deeper breath, more likely to calm his ticking nerves than balancing his breathing in the copy-nin's opinion, before putting the already bruising hands on the firm hips and having a slightly twitching eyebrow raised for a question. "_What_, exactly, do you call that stance?"

When the ex-ANBU took in his rather unprofessional appearance with both hands held palms open and only halfway up for defense and his legs in ridiculously wide stand on straight knees, he did feel a bit silly.

Recognizing the familiar tone he had been introduced with during the many visits in the mission room whenever he had decided to brighten the tanned tyrant's day with his skills in novelty literature, Kakashi cleared his throat, still holding his awkward stance unchanged, and gambled a sheepish grin at his fuming adversary. "...Ah...this here is the result of the ANBU training, so unfortunately I can't tell you, sensei." The dryly cocked dark eyebrow rose yet another millimeter at his apparently ludicrous choice of words, and the jounin watched in cautious curiosity as the sun-kissed lips formed a silent _'oh'_. Alas, he knew that to be just the prelude.

"With all due respect for the ANBU and your personal efforts for keeping our psyche-nins sufficiently employed, that is by far the worst defending stance I have ever witnessed during my days as an academy instructor. What in hell's name possessed you to even consider that as a suitable move? Even my students could beat you up as you are now, for crying out loud!"

Ignoring his miserably wailing ego mauled by a one peeved Umino, Kakashi straightened his posture and scratched his masked cheek with a happy smile in his eyes. He had forgotten how perceptive the other man really was, and it didn't take long for him to understand that he was in for more than just a heated lecture on defense tactics if he didn't choose his next words more carefully. Among their profession it was commonly considered rude to think of other things when matching with someone, for there was no clearer message to let the other know how weak they were considered. Therefore doing it to a man who was particularly sensitive around that matter could be considered as smart as giving the finger to Enma [1] himself (or yelling the completely wrong name in the heat of the moment, which in most cases could quickly lead to greeting the aforementioned deity sitting behing the ethereal office desk [2]). Then again, the copy-nin had always preferred to live dangerously. "..Maa, just got lost in the road of life, sensei."

"And which one of those undoubtedly _fascinating_ roads was it this time?" Iruka felt his vein tick at the man's smiling eyes. Kakashi had been distracted once before during their matches, but this time it was blatantly obvious that the bastard's mind was nowhere near the present situation. The chuunin didn't disregard good openings during a fight, but attacking someone lost it their thoughts, especially if the targeted person was one's mission partner, made his moral scream in alert. He never got kicks out of a dirty fight, unlike some other shinobis he unfortunately knew to enjoy even more if they got to use their corrupted methods on their opponents. Plus, he didn't like the implications of him being hardly a threat to the arrogant pest if the other had time to indulge himself with other issues. Someday he would forget to act by his reputation as the straight-laced sensei.

"Ah, but this one was a brand new with a delightful coastal view, you see, and they told me to get as much humid ocean air as possible to keep my sense of smell in good condition. Who am I to pass an opportunity to keep myself in shape for missions?" Kakashi said with a tiny smirk adorning his masked features, the gray eye bright and mischievous. Slowly, he set his muscles ready underneath his dark clothes.

Iruka felt a persistent tug on his lips and he gave a soft snort at the masked man. A pervert and a pathological liar aside, the older nin knew the ways to make his anger subside. "I see. What a diligent jounin you are." Carefully, his shoulders set themselves low and ready, his hands slowly flexed each of his fingers and he felt both his calves and thighs twitch in excitement. He could see the other's deceivingly laid-back pose morph gradually into something more dangerous, and with each passing second the amount of adrenaline increased in his system. The tiny tug slipped into an outright devilish grin on the dark-skinned face. "Should I start to doubt that you're not as lazy, arrogant, sadistic and perverted as the rumors make you appear?"

When a playful spark took over the gray eye, the bronze-skinned chuunin had already forgotten why he had opposed their match in the first place. After the last days with more or less negative news, it seemed that both of them needed something familiar in order to ground them back to their actual mission. And if there happened to be a possibility for him to give the jounin a few good hits on the way, he wasn't against the offer.

"I have always admired your optimism, sensei", Kakashi said with a happy tilt of the head. A gesture which smoothly turned into a dip of the silver-haired head as the jounin plummeted himself towards the chuunin, his silent feet rushing him to the man's front and then plunging him in the air for a ruthless upper-cut kick.

Having expected the assault, Iruka dashed away from the cutting kick and then delivered his own at the jounin the moment the pale leg made contact with the floor, sending the pale jounin down with a loud wham as his heel connected with the man's upper chest. Continuing his momentum, Iruka swept down to drive his fists into the man's gut, only to hit the floor as the jounin retreated away from the range. In a blink he felt two blows against his back crush him face first to the floor, after which a strong grip grabbed his ponytail and lifted him back up on his knees. The moment the hand disappeared from his hair Iruka felt a rough punch make itself known to his diaphragm, the air leaving him with a violent wheeze. Not waiting for the finishing kick, the chuunin dropped down on his side and rolled on his back, seeing the kicking leg swing past above his figure. Then he supported his upper body on the already trembling arms and swung his strong legs sideways in a resemblance to a windmill, the lean shins and thighs grazing the matted surface by deadly speed. To his disappointment, the jounin hopped over the widely kicking legs before aiming a knee at chuunin's abs, a move familiar to Iruka as he had made the same thing just a few moments earlier. The bronze-skinned man lifted both his legs and arms over his torso and managed to fend off the cruel knee, then the teacher scrambled back on all fours and continued his retreat to avoid the following fists hitting the matted floor right where his body was seconds ago. Cursing vehemently under his breath, the chuunin pushed himself up on his knees and slapped the fists away before delivering a rough, unrefined punch with knuckles at the masked jaw, sending the older nin reeling to the side.

The second his whole body touched the floor, Kakashi changed the direction of his momentum and hopped back up with ease. Not giving his opponent time to see his next moves, the jounin all but launched himself at the chuunin. Iruka saw the approach and kept his eyes trained on the oncoming assault while his body regrouped itself, his squat low and solid with the tanned hands and legs pressed firmly against the floor. Kakashi noticed the man's change of posture and made a quick move to the side, all the while feeling the keen eyes on him as he gradually circled closer to the sharp-minded sensei. Iruka followed the pale man both with his eyes and all of his senses, his mind scanning through the strategic archives at the same speed with the encircling jounin and discarding the possible attacks one after one when they didn't fit the information he gathered from the advancing shinobi. Suddenly a fist passing next to his head sent a gust of wind brushing against his skin, and Iruka flattened himself on the floor as the anticipated kick sailed above his head. Then he once again pushed himself sideways with his arms and legs to avoid the cutting punch aimed at his back, but he hadn't expected to feel a firm grip suddenly take hold of his shoulder and pull him on his back with a thunk, his fate sealed when the grip changed into tendon-crushing weight pushing against his captured shoulder, thus effectively forcing him to stay put.

A victorious chuckle was all the warning Kakashi gave to the younger man before his firm fist drove in to the man's abdomen, the tatami mat giving a crack in its fibers as the set of merciless fingers and knuckles made full impact to the tanned body with the jounin's full weight enhancing the blow.

Iruka heaved painfully for air after the contact was made and his back felt like having caught on fire due to the harsh collision with the woven mat. That was a mean trick, and his glare was certain to deliver his thoughts at the bastard hovering above him. Then suddenly, the same deadly fist slammed next to his head and he could feel the tiny shockwave of air caress the strands of hair on his temple, hushing every witty retort he had gathered on his tongue.

"...That could have crushed your frontal lobe, sensei", a low, dangerous voice said above his face. Iruka fixed his eyes to answer the given look from the gray eye, the jounin's expression unusually blank and unreadable. After a moment of silence, the older man spoke out the awaited explanation.

"...As tempting as it was, we're here to spar rather than kill each other. At least that's what was written in my scroll. Can't be sure about yours, though. But the next time, as much as you seem to enjoy it, don't spend so much time on the floor, neh? You're offering yourself as an easy target that way", the copy-nin said lightly and the mismatched eyes formed brightly smiling crescents above the dark mask, replacing the sudden seriousness from the man's appearance. "That aside, have you felt anything yet?"

Iruka looked silently at the man above him for a heartbeat and then gave a pensive look at the ceiling behind the silver-haired jounin. "...Well, for one, I'm fairly sure that there are smoother ways to seduce a person..." His face split into a devious smirk at the older man's shocked expression. Served the genius right for asking idiotic questions. "Honestly, what did you think I'd answer, numbskull?"

Kakashi gave a tired sigh, but couldn't hide his amusement at the man's words. Truth to be told, he should have expected something akin to the smart-assing he got when he asked the question. He lifted himself away from the teacher and leaned on his arms while the other seemed to be comfortable on the floor. The lone eye watched the darkened yard outside the training room, the evening having turned into night during their match. It was actually a bit dark in the training room as well, now that he gave the space a second look. That explained why for a moment he had worried if his eyesight was getting bad.

"Though the answer to your question is still negative, Kakashi-san", Iruka said and observed the ceiling above him, noticing for the first time how dark it actually was in the room. No wonder he had had difficulties to keep up with the man from time to time. "I felt nothing significant whatsoever." Luckily, in his opinion. He gave a tired yawn and stretched his back, regretting it the second the still hurting skin area moved against the floor. He was going to have a fun night with the new injuries done to his body, not to mention the delightful joys of pain that awaited him in the morning.

Kakashi huffed in thought and ignored the faint flow of curses being muttered from the teacher's direction when his mind turned to ponder on the current information they had managed to gather so far. If their elements didn't rebel during their fights, then what was it that ignited the reaction? What had he missed?

"...It could be emotional", Iruka's voice carried through the thoughtful silence. The jounin cast a questioning look at the chuunin, the other man keeping his dark eyes on the dark ceiling. Both men weighed the said words in brief silence. Then the teacher gave a quick glance at the jounin who was still observing him. "I was mightily pissed when I slapped you, so it could be tied to emotional stress on some level."

On those words Kakashi sat up more properly and propped his clothed jaw on his hands, and through the darkness Iruka saw the gray eye grow distant. The man was clearly losing himself into his thoughts again. Suddenly the copy-nin hummed in a low voice, and the chuunin was quite sure that he detected a sliver of amusement in the tune. "So you're suggesting that I should get you riled up in order to get a reaction? Haven't we solved that equation even before this mission, or am I missing something vital here?"

Iruka gave a short laugh at the man's lightly teasing words, the jounin had hit a good point with that. "We have, but you wouldn't want a cold shower from now on whenever you press my buttons, Kakashi-san."

Kakashi shrugged lazily at that. "You have a point there, I suppose. But then again, it could have its perks whenever my uniform gets dirty on the missions. They say the blood has to be washed off when it's still fresh to avoid visible stains, not to mention the other body fluids", Kakashi gave the man a leer with mischievously smiling eyes. Shame that the room was so dark, since he was fairly sure that the chuunin's cheeks sported a nice blush at that moment if the appalled sputtering was anything to go by.

"I'll have you disinfected and wrapped tightly in a cling film the next time you approach my desk, pervert." He should have known where their discussions would lead sooner or later. With a tired sigh, Iruka picked himself up, cursing briefly the hurting back on his way, and felt an eye on him as he went to the terrace to pick up the tray with the leftovers of their late supper. Carrying the dirty dishes towards the kitchen, he cast a small smile at the silent jounin. "It's rather late. We can concentrate on this riddle better tomorrow when I have more in my head than just the nagging wish to get some sleep. I suspect that your body feels the same, Kakashi-san, even though you have slept most of the day." The chuunin walked to the kitchen and as the hot water filled up the sink he had put the dishes in, he heard the other's footfalls land on the terrace. From the corner of his eye, Iruka spotted Kakashi stand on the edge of the wooden porch, facing the dark night in his usual slouch, the man seemingly alone with his thoughts.

As the teacher finished washing the last plate, he sensed more than heard the other enter the kitchen on silent feet.

"What is it in me that you're afraid of, Iruka-sensei?"

The quietly spoken question made the plate slip from Iruka's hands and fall back to the sink with an echoing clang, spilling a good amount of warm water on his clothes in the process. A muttered curse left the teacher's lips and he took the plate again, rinsed it swiftly and put it into cupboard with the others. With no hurry, he wiped his hands dry as they both silently observed the used water flow down the drain. Then Iruka shifted his already aching muscles to lean his weight lightly against the counter and lifted the slightly tired eyes to challenge the intensively staring gray orb. A slender eyebrow rose to counter the seriously spoken question and the chuunin's voice carried a deceivingly light tone in it. "I thought we had already discussed that matter. When was the last time you had your hearing checked?"

Unfortunately, the teacher had forgotten who he played against.

With a deliberately slow step forward, Kakashi tilted his head closer to the tanned man. "It will take more than that to make me lose the scent the second time, sensei." Intrigued, the jounin observed as one of the chuunin's fingers halted in the air, just half an inch above the hard counter it had been absently tapping against. A subtle warning meant for him.

"...Saa, you're demanding a straight answer from a shinobi? Is this something you picked up along the way when adventuring in the road of life? Let me guess, this time it had an oasis in it, eh?" The mellow voice spoke in a tantalizing tone, and Kakashi could see the challenge shine bright in the teacher's eyes. In the days to come, he just might forget his vow not to use the sharingan on his comrades. They all made slips, even him.

"You're avoiding the subject, sensei", pointed the quiet remark from the jounin's side.

As easily as it had appeared, the spark in Iruka's eyes faded away and the chuunin settled for a more unreadable look. The decrease of temperature in the usually warm and rich baritone was an interesting note in the copy-nin's books. "As convenient as it could be, I'm not. I have given all the information you need. It's not my problem if you can't use that porn-corrupted head more properly to get the answers that you're lacking or the right questions you could be asking instead of focusing on trivial little details. You're a jounin and an ex-ANBU, Kakashi-san, and I expect you to act as your rank dictates. Nothing more, and certainly nothing less." With that the tanned man pushed himself off the counter and set his way towards the shared bedroom. He felt really tired and debating over insignificant matters with the one-eyed air-head wasn't a valid reason for him to skip a good night's sleep. He sensed the other follow him with his eye and his teacher senses alerted him to prepare for the last comment for the night. Sadly, he wasn't disappointed.

"You're admitting that there's more to it, sensei." Kakashi observed the man stop by the bedroom door, the other's hand ready to pull the door open. Instead of getting a mere glare or a general mutter on '_stupid jounin_', the lightning user was granted with an unfazed look over the bronze-skinned shoulder.

"You'd be worse than an idiot not to spot that." The passing, teasing smirk didn't miss its mark, and Kakashi could feel his own brows twitch at the smug look in the other's eyes. Thus, he couldn't help but give his own contribution to their tongue-lashing.

"Maa. For a man to demand mature behavior from his peers, you're quite a flippant little fucker yourself, sensei."

Of all the violent outcomes he was prepared to defend himself against, the loud laughter that escaped the chuunin's lips wasn't on any of his lists. The tanned fingers wiped over the tired eyes before the chuunin served the surprised upper rank with a toothy grin. "Remind me to give you a kunai sticker for that when the mission ends, _ge-ni-us_."And with a last, wicked look cast at the nonplussed jounin, the smirking chuunin disappeared to the bedroom, the proud, spiky ponytail swaying as the man shook his head on the way.

As the soft click of the closing door registered in his stunned mind, Kakashi found himself left alone in the faint glow of the kitchen light, only the silence as his company. That had been an unexpected conversation, but, if he was honest with himself, he had anticipated it to leave him with a whole bunch of new questions concerning the ambivalent sensei rather than getting what he had wanted from the infuriatingly moody man. As he slowly replayed their evening down to the last words before Iruka had left to sleep, some other connections made themselves suddenly active in his head, which led to unravel a few almost forgotten memories concerning their latest adventures in the world of chakra. The moment when one particular snippet of dialogue clicked into place, all the other thoughts were promptly thrown out of his mind's surreal window into the absurd maze that was the ex-ANBU's logic.

_"...It was only Iruka-sensei who got the reaction."_

Even the pin itself wanted to keep the intense silence uninterrupted. Then, a quiet, rumbling chuckle that was tinted with an evil undertone rose slowly from the masked throat while the man of thousand jutsus casually clicked the feeble light out and shambled in the darkness to enjoy a warm shower before joining the current target of his musings for a sleep, the new, insidious plans being formed in the genius mind.

_A well-hidden blade, indeed._

QQQ

_[1] Enma is a god of hell in the Buddhist mythology, who judges the dead based on their deeds and determines who goes to heaven and who is sent to hell._

_Coincidentally enough, Naruto series has a character of the monkey king Enma, who is the Sandaime Hokage's summon and could be seen in action for example when Sarutobi fought against Orochimaru during Naruto's chuunin tests._

_In any case, I could hazard a guess that neither of these guys would take it well if one flips off at them, so basically you get to choose the one that suits your taste. Have fun._

_[2] In Dragon Ball series, the man had a nice office. That's all._

_AN: I'm out of bones. Any bones out there?_


	11. Day 8 Week n:o 2

_AN: Happy summer to you all over there. I apologise for taking so long with this update, but having an exhibition takes its toll. Plus I had many debates with my plot ideas, discarding old ones, creating new ones and practically beating a few into obedience. _

_I think a mere 'Thank you' isn't sufficient for your reviews, I'm sorry for not answering them as much as it's polite, but, well, I think you all know you make my heart swell with warmth every time you guys give a shout and let me know that this story has your attention. I try my best to avoid grammatic errors and give a language that's not my native tongue the kind of appreciation it deserves, and following your speculations on the plot keeps my mind tightly concentrated on this snippet, for which I'm grateful-_

_..._

_I'll shut up now._

Day 8 / **Week n:o 2** : Enter the unknown factor and multiply with two

The gentle rain thrummed against the roof tiles as the gray, humid and calm morning tapped its greetings gently on every roof and window in the hidden village. The warmth that had enveloped the region for the few passing days had grudgingly subsided after the chilly rain had persuaded it to give some room for the other weathers as well, since they were all needed to make the oncoming summer as pleasing as possible to the subjects of their care. Especially when Konoha was considered, the rain did its best to maintain the trees and plants with the greenness they were so well appreciated and loved for. No leaf wilted on its watch.

While the inhabitants of the village took the rainy day the best they could, their thoughts varying from the relief of not having guard duty that day to disappointment when the field day in the academy would be canceled due to the bad weather conditions, there stood a lonely man on a terrace made of well-worn wooden blanks.

For Kakashi, the rain was more than welcomed. The jounin leaned against the wall, his first morning coffee in hand, and had his eyes closed as he listened carefully the serenade of various taps, drips and dribbles echoing from the modest architecture of their current location, the rhythmic melodies mixing delightedly with the white noise of the surrounding, awakening neighborhood.

A small, crooked smile splayed on the rarely revealed pale lips, the man knowing that there was no one within hundred miles who could catch a glimpse of the currently unmasked face, the still sleeping, tanned chuunin included. The jounin took a slow sip of his coffee, savoring the rich, dark taste on his tongue, albeit feeling a bit disappointed for it lacking the same full aftertaste when compared to the ones which the slumbering sensei had brewed for him a couple of times. Either the man really knew how to brew a cup or the taste was affected by the joy of somebody else doing something for him.

The gray eye peered a bit open to cast a thoughtful, if a bit melancholic look at the gradually strengthening rain now pounding more vigorously through the streets of his village. The silver mane pressed against the cool wall and the man took another sip, letting the warm liquid linger against his upper lip just for a minute before lowering the cup from his mouth and swallowing the bitter beverage, feeling it warm up his insides and thus creating an enjoyable contrast to the chill air surrounding him.

...It had been a while, hadn't it.

Then the gray eye shifted its attention to the dimly lit kitchen. He had been surprised when he had checked the fridge that morning and suspected that the young sensei had something to do with the particular ingredients he had found. He could only picture the ANBU's expression when the teacher had made his request, and the passing thought reminded him to have his own chat with the masked thorn on his side the next time the kohai granted them with his presence.

He also needed to ask for a new pillow. Using his uniform vest for that purpose was routine for him during the long missions whenever he had time to doze off for longer than fifteen minutes, but he'd be damned not to take advantage of the better sleeping conditions when given the opportunity for it. He also wasn't getting any younger during the years, and he had remembered why he had preferred to not sleep horizontally at all during field missions when he had woken up. The pale man lifted his other hand to rub firmly the still aching shoulder, and he could feel his neck being out for revenge.

Inflicting damage on one's body almost on daily basis for many years in a row wasn't the smartest thing to do in the long run now that the physical age was catching up with the muscles and bones. Being overly flexible and quicker than a blink could only last for the earliest years in their profession before the scars, fractures, sprains and missing limbs started to take their toll on them. The issues of mental traumas were a whole other thing, of course, and if he had known that, Kakashi would have taken a mission or two a bit differently back when he was younger and at the beginning of his career.

If he ever would have been given a choice, that is.

Drinking down the last drops of the beloved caffeine, the lone shinobi gave the last look over the wet ground of the small yard at the dark clouds roaming over the awakening village like the hands of an experienced medic, the rain removing all of the poisons from the air they breathed. As the man of thousand jutsus took in a deep gulp of the humid, clear air, he could feel his senses recover from their drowsiness and his mind wake up, the awakening body being accompanied with an almost silly smile spreading on the well-shaped features of the ex-ANBU as the man indulged himself in the rare luxury of silence, peace and the feeling of being relatively safe, the latter being something he had been quite sure to have forgotten a long time ago. At the slightly sorrowful ring in his thoughts, the man gave a tiny chuckle at himself as his smile only grew and took a turn into a more rueful one, revealing the row of teeth only a few had ever seen.

If they ever knew that he'd be able to feel sentimental.

The falling rain observed curiously when the slightly smiling jounin hummed a meaningless little tune as he leisurely strolled back in to get his second fill of the dark nectar for the day.

The current weather decided to loiter around a bit longer.

Q

...Rain. The heavy kind.

A sleepy smile found its way on the handsome features of the twenty-something shinobi when Iruka woke up to a rhythmic tapping echoing around him in the darkness. He always felt tired when it rained, and as the things stood in his opinion, he had every right to feel such at the moment after the past couple of days. He could always argue that he needed to be well-rested for their matches. His drowsy mind happily settled, the tanned jaw stretched into a quiet yawn and the dark eyes dropped back closed as the chuunin rolled lazily to his side, tempted to continue where he had been left off with a bowl of matcha ice cream and a spicy cup of sinfully well brewed chai...

...Except.

After a moment of thoughtful silence, the dark eyes peered back open and the teacher's senses awakened a bit more to work on the strange, persistent nagging feeling that was making itself known in the back of his head. The fit, mocha-colored body lifted itself halfway up on the bed in order to slowly turn around to give a better look at what had made Iruka's instincts grow restless and forced him to delay the imaginative oral orgasm that had been on his list.

As the man scanned the room, soon enough the sleepy, deep brown eyes fell on the second futon in the room, it being bare as the deserts surrounding Sunagakure and visibly lacking one lazy-ass jounin. Against all odds, the bastard seemed to have awoken before him.

The question of why flew past unnoticed as the abused muscles caught on him being awake and thus gave their own rather painful opinion on that matter. Iruka groaned between the gritted teeth and slowly lowered himself back on the mattress, regretting it instantly when his back burst into burning ache all over his spinal area the moment it touched the firm surface. Undoubtedly the last night's match was a bit too rough for the still tender new tissue covering the scarred area, and now Iruka had to pay for that fact. He stretched the broad shoulders carefully against the linen, the breath hitching as a particularly nasty jab shot through his upper body and making him to try another tactic, the perceptive eyes squinting shut against the agony raking through his system. He bent himself a bit to the side, but was quickly forced to return back to the previous position when the nerves and muscles screamed in agonizing chorus against his ministrations. There was no better way to feel old and crippled than having one's body flamed with infernal pain the second after opening the eyes. A harshly hissed curse fell from the snarling lips and the chuunin directed a dark scowl towards the ceiling above him.

He was sure, though, that no ceiling should ever smirk back as gleefully as it now did behind the dark mask.

"Yo."

The citizens of Konoha ran for cover as the previously light drizzle suddenly turned into a monsoon washing over the ones unlucky enough to get caught in it as the pounding rain covered its ears from the scream that rang through the rooms in the innocent-looking, light gray house.

Q

"..Maa, sensei. Have some tea, neh?"

Only murderous silence answered him.

"..Ah. I hope you're fine with the pu'erh [1] I found, and I did follow the steeping instructions so it should be good. Though I must say that I'm intrigued, sensei. Who knew how many different teas there could actually be, neh?"

If anything, the glare in the dark eyes seemed to only deepen at his poor attempt for casual conversation, and to his dismay the jounin spotted the nearly invisible twitch tweak the frowning eyebrow on the darkly scowling face. Kakashi gave a tiny sigh and winced at the tiny sting of pain on his masked cheeks and chin that were still slightly swollen due to the chuunin's impressively pulled impromptu windmill kick that had given him a brand new, tangible perspective for the blankets they had. He had been playing with fire, granted, since it was a fool's job to sneak up on a sleepy, trained killer, but the silent treatment he now received was actually far more intimidating than having his head wrapped inside the thick fabric of the felt and banged to the floor by the strong legs belonging to a very homicidal academy instructor.

What made the lightning user's mood turn more sour, even if he didn't like admitting it, was the fact that the seething chuunin was in no doubt more than capable of continuing the heavy silence if he chose to. After all, it wouldn't be much of a surprise if the man's students took after him on some levels. If Kakashi could hazard a guess, he was sure the current pout that was nearing sheer perfection on the full lips was a result from years of careful training. But, as the situation was given, he had to get the man placated enough to enjoy the breakfast before he would get brutalized with a pair of chopsticks, or, since he knew the man's remarkable talents on turning almost anything into a weapon, more likely with the assortment of fruit which the dark-skinned man eyed a bit too interestedly.

"You went through my teas for the second time, Kakashi-san?" The dark eyes stayed downcast at the chopped fruits and the questioning voice was calm and quiet, but it would take a dead fool not to notice the high-pitched ring of hard metal lingering in the man's peacefully spoken words, a sound which resembled suspiciously a katana being drawn out of its sheath.

Damn it. Kakashi bit his too honest tongue on that particular slip. He still remembered what happened to Ebisu when the man had taken one of Iruka's traveling tea bags without consulting the chuunin about it first. As he had arrived to the teacher's lounge for his break, the mentioned tea addicted sensei had spotted that the last pouch of his favorite genmaicha [2] had not only vanished from its rightful place, but had been brutally ripped open and put in the uptight besserwisser's cup and to his utter terror witnessed it being used for only one quick, poor brew with scalding hot water before ending into the trash bin. Even the Hokage herself had been impressed with the combination of field battle barriers and seals the teacher had unleashed at the special jounin, moreover on the fact that Iruka had paid enough consideration on the surroundings that neither the school's facilities or the other occupants in the room had been damaged during the fiery retribution.

Not one to go down without at least an entertaining fight, the silver-haired jounin gave the younger man a bright smile with his eyes. "Yes. I did. I wouldn't have been able to serve you full breakfast if I didn't, sensei. I hope you don't mind."

The chuunin took a silent, long inhale through his nose and let it out slowly before lifting the intently glaring eyes to look at the still smiling mismatched pair, and for a moment Kakashi was almost sure he could feel the bronze-skinned man's aura finger the immaterial blade.

For his mild surprise, his genius head stayed intact.

A sigh was heard and the ghost katana was put back into its sheath with a soft click. "No, Kakashi-san, I don't mind."

On that note the gray orb met the pair of dark eyes glancing back under the frown. Then the chuunin sighed again, the strong muscles on his body relaxing with the released breath, and took the awaiting tea pot with the cup. "But for your sake I do hope that you at least used the older pu'erh, since it's more suited for a bad weather like we have now", the man continued with a more conversational tone as he filled the cup with the warm, deep mahogany brown liquid. For a moment, the teacher observed the poured drink before lifting it to his nose for a light sniff. "...And it seems you did. Impressive. Not many notice the difference." A passing tug of the sun-kissed lips was something Kakashi didn't expect either, and the smile that took over the eyes that cast a short look at him over the rim of the steaming cup was enough to make his fingers itch for making the signs for the genjutsu release. But, instead of mutterin _'kai'_ under his breath, the copy-nin decided to go for the tentative truce he was being offered.

"Did anyone visit here when I was passed out?"

"I suspect you already saw the fridge's content." Iruka cast a nonchalant look at the older man as the chuunin sipped the tea.

Kakashi answered the look with a lazy shrug and took a piece of fruit in his fingers, giving the chopped, pale chunk that used to be a pear a mockingly pensive look. "Just confirming the intel. You know how paranoid we jounins can be."

A soft snort was heard at that. "Indeed you are, and indeed I know." Then the chuunin sensei shook his head in teasing manner, the tone of his voice giving a lighter layer to his next words. "Shame though that you found them out. Now you would only focus on the aspect of getting fed within the next couple of hours rather than concentrate on our mission." The rumbling chuckle from the older man's direction made Iruka's lips pull themselves into a wide grin before he took another sip of his tea and snatched a couple of fruits himself, feeling the warmth spread within his body and mind. He wouldn't mind sleeping longer once in a while if he was offered with an equally well-brewed cup he was now enjoying.

"Why were you up so early, though?" Iruka heard his mouth say half-aloud in between the munches before his mind got to the point of even considering asking the jounin about it. For all he knew the man could have just taken a shower, or meditated, or most likely had read his dirty books, whatever the restless jounin did when he woke up too early. It wasn't his concern to pry on the other man, mission partner or not. Expecting a brief, professional answer between the lines of 'none of your concern', Iruka was surprised to see Kakashi take a more comfortable seat on the floor and direct a nonchalant look at the rain outside the double doors of the training room.

"Well I did sleep almost the whole day yesterday. There's a limit on how much a man's body can take sleep and laying under the covers."

A choking sound made Kakashi turn to look at the suddenly coughing teacher as the chuunin fought to not drown on his tea. Even without words, the younger man had found the right way to make his argument loud and clear. Discarding the tempting thought of helping the man to get his lungs filled with warm, aromatic water, Kakashi calmly scooted closer, raised his hand, aimed, and gave a sharp smack at the man's upper back. The heaving stopped immediately, which, Kakashi quickly realized, left the smart-ass teacher with enough air for forming words. He should have stopped his hand to give it a second thought.

Iruka held his other hand over his mouth and gasped for breath for a moment before giving a brightly shining look at the copy-nin's direction, the tan cheeks flushed due to the brief lack of oxygen. "I think we need to establish a whole new limit scale to make you fit into it, Kakashi-san."

Kakashi gave the teacher a nod with a thoughtful hum. "Maa, absolutely, with a slot designed solely for chuunins with too smart asses."

"Oh spare me from that, you'd do exactly the same if you were me...hell, possibly even worse when you are you", Iruka said with a faint cough and rolled his eyes in the process.

Kakashi gave the tanned man an unreadable look. "Drown myself with my drink, irritate my colleague or draw diagrams about it? I hope the worse version doesn't include Gai."A chuckle found its way at his amused speculations. Then the pale man took a better seat on the woven mat and gave another look outside at the rainy scenery. "Speaking of scales and such...This must be the first mission where I would suffer from chakra depletion when I'm left without almost any chakra to begin with. Must be my record."

Iruka seemed to sober up on the quietly spoken note. The chuunin lowered his eyes at the deep auburn tea, and from the corner of his eye, Kakashi couldn't be sure if that was regret he saw on the other's face. The strange look passed, and the bronze-skinned man turned to look properly at the jounin. "Should we begin our day, Kakashi-san? We have a schedule to catch."

Q

"I thought shinobis are flexible."

"I think you're not any better to bark at the moment, since I'm fairly sure that was wince I just saw."

"Maa, something in your eye, I'm sure", Kakashi shrugged on the opposite side from Iruka, them sitting on the floor with their feet pressed against each other with their legs being spread to the sides, thus creating a space resembling a distorted square between them. Both men leaned back on their hands with their posture still held straight, the stretch aimed solely on their inner thighs' muscles and the hip joints. Although, at the moment the deep brown eyes were aimed straight at the smiling mismatched pair seen over one dark mask, and the sulking face of the younger nin was making the other's smirk grow even wider underneath the smooth fabric.

"Ready to move closer, sensei?" The teasing wink didn't get lost from the other man who gave a hiss of pain as a reply when they pushed their legs even wider by sliding their hips a bit closer to one another on the floor. As soon as they settled for the stretch once again, Iruka suddenly let out a yelp and lifted his bottom from the ground by leaning more on his straight arms, that way easing the body weight on his hips. The chuunin stifled a pained moan and answered the inquiring look in the narrowed gray eye with a weak smile.

"I'm fine, just give a minute, Kakashi-san."

A pale hand appeared on his shoulder and squeezed firmly the tense tendons and muscles, making the younger shinobi's focus draw itself from the agonizing ache to the slightly smiling eyes of his superior. Kakashi gave the man a tiny nod and slowly helped the man settle back on the floor before leaning back on his both hands. "Concentrate on your breathing, sensei. That way you won't tense your crotch."

An annoyed look was sent at his direction as Iruka followed the given advice. "My crotch isn't 'tense', thank you."

"Well, we can easily remedy that if you like." The copy-nin was quite proud of the immaculately executed lewd tone he managed to include in his words. All he needed was the following shouting and their morning exercise would be completed.

The suddenly intense look passing Iruka's otherwise well-schooled features was an intriguing response that the jounin hadn't anticipated. Then the chuunin gave a dry tilt of his lips, the previous display of emotions having vanished from sight in the dark eyes. "Tempting, but I'll pass. I enjoy my crotch as it is at the moment, jounin-san."

"If you'd stretch a bit more often then I'm sure there would be plenty of others who'd like to enjoy it too, sensei."

Kakashi's jaw would learn to hate him.

Q

One, two, three - _four_! Kakashi barely slipped away from the surprising right hook flung at him, his legs carrying him away from the skilled pursuer whose other hand had almost reached the tiny, chiming goal as the unexpected hit had distracted the jounin. The clear ring of the silver bells echoed in the training room amidst the sounds of labored breathing and silently running feet when the two nins took their measure.

Iruka clicked his tongue at the other's narrow escape but continued the chase, the steeled determination enhancing the endurance of his already exhausted muscles. For five times already he had been close.

The next one would be the clear kill.

Q

Iruka hummed quietly as he shut the small box with the filled vials in it and put it back into the fridge. Then the chuunin grabbed a mug and a cup in tow and went to the terrace where his counterpart was already waiting while observing the still falling rain. "Here's your coffee, Kakashi-san", Iruka said and offered the steaming drink to the jounin who nodded his thanks as he took the beverage.

The quiet drumming of the rain against their house filled the silence between them, and Iruka rubbed absentmindedly the sleeve of his thermal gear, the small sting of needle lingering on his upper arm's skin underneath the wrapped healing bandage.

"You're fighting differently today, sensei."

Iruka turned to look at the jounin who observed him in silence. "Differently? How exactly?"

Kakashi gave a mere shrug as a response. Iruka pursed his lips and leaned his head back against the chill wall, replaying the three matches they've had so far. He hadn't felt different during their matches, at least not in a way he should deem peculiar to him.

"More confident, perhaps", the jounin's voice filtered through the air as the man meandered past the thoughtful teacher towards the kitchen. The jounin stopped briefly by the kitchen door with a pensive air around him. Then the superior shook his head in light manner, the low voice unreadable and stable. "That last maneuver was daring, to say the least. In case you didn't notice."

With that the man stepped back in, leaving the teacher alone with his thoughts.

Q

The silver bell gave a cheerful chime as it dangled in front of the gray, miffed eye that glared at the smirking man who was holding the tiny metal sphere.

"Fighting with an empty stomach, are we?"

The wailing grumble was answered with bright, loud laughter.

Q

"If you inch any closer to the soup you force me to disregard the fact that this soup is meant as a peace offering, Kakashi-san."

"Maa, sensei, always so eager to bark and a bite. Kami help us if you're ever turned into a dog." The smirk was obvious even when hidden behind the brightly colored book cover.

"Instead of concentrating on my future improbable reincarnation, I suggest you ask the deities to pay attention more closely to the fact that this ladle does have some nice perks concerning its shape and length", Iruka said with a nonchalant tone that was accompanied with a light, teasing smirk pulling his lips as he stirred the deliciously smelling lunch of miso soup on the stove. "The weight isn't too bad either."

The deceivingly bored-looking eye peered over the Icha Icha's pages.

The tiny smirk split into an outright wolfish grin on the tan face.

"...Maa. I'll tidy up the training room, sensei", the jounin drawled and with a sharp snap closed the dirty book, the other's poorly smothered chortles ringing in his ears as he strolled out of the kitchen.

Knowing that the other didn't see the jocular, wide grin on his hidden lips.

Q

The agile feet stumbled and tripped and Iruka let out a yelp as he fell down on his side. As soon as he hit the matted surface, the younger shinobi continued the momentum, rolled on his stomach and scrambled back up just in time to block a set of seven blows sent at his direction. His arms were killing him already and they still had five minutes before the alarm would beep. His legs were kicked from under him and not for the first time he got a good eyeful of the room's ceiling when he fell down on his back with a loud thud.

"Still so eager to spend your time on the floor." He heard the infuriatingly familiar voice tease him and felt the mats tremble from the silently approaching steps. The chuunin shifted his eyes to look at his counterpart who crouched down close to the honey-toned shinobi and gave his prey a bright smile with the mismatched eyes. "You're making this too easy for me, sensei."

The passing gleam in the narrowing, glaring eyes was all the warning the jounin got before the set of lean legs swung at him on floor level, making him flip backwards on his hands and then on his feet, thus getting away from the kicking teacher. After the low windmill kick, Iruka spun himself back up, rushed to the man's side and landed a couple of hits at the blocking jounin's arms with his trembling fists, then caught the man's forearms in his hands and pulled the older man to meet his raising knee.

To have his hold reversed by the pale, nimble hands and to feel the world tilt suddenly upside down before ending forced down on his stomach in seconds with a weight pressing down on his back and shoulders wasn't part of his plans, though.

The jounin tutted at the disgruntled and struggling man under his hold. "And down again we went, neh? This is getting quite repetitive, you know. Aren't you supposed to teach the kids a more versatile palette on fighting styles, _Iruka-sensei_?"

The low, rumbling growl of the mission room dictator was a just what he needed for the rainy day.

Q

"Let me take the groceries out for you", Kakashi said as he watched the younger man hobble towards their fridge, the thermal clothes swishing on his pained way. The pointed look he received made him give a sheepish smile at the beaten man. "That back of yours took a nasty blow just now, you should take it easy."

"If it doesn't kill me, I'm sure you'll find another way to finish the job, Kakashi-san. I'm fine-", an agonized hiss cut Iruka's argument short as he bent down to pull the ingredients out to the counter and felt a violent jab shoot up his spine. Quickly, a pair of pale hands took hold of his sides and despite his outraged yelp, the copy-nin steered the sulking sensei away from the fridge and then dove in to take the needed foods for their dinner, ignoring the immaterial daggers stabbing his back.

"Like I said, take it easy. We don't want to give Tsunade-sama any more reasons to be drunk all the time, now do we?" Kakashi said and cast a look that was supposed to be teasing over his shoulder, but the sudden seriousness that passed the chuunin's features made him narrow his eye in speculating manner. Having collected the right items, the silver-haired nin placed them gently on the kitchen counter and observed the miscellaneous ingredients before him, the tense silence creeping over the men in the kitchen.

"...I'm sorry, Kakashi-san."

Kakashi turned his head to the side to give a long look at the rueful whisper. Iruka's eyes were darker than usual, the full and expressive lips were drawn into a thin line, and Kakashi observed as the skillful hands were slowly balled into tight fists. The teacher gave him a hesitant look before turning to look at the food that was piled in between them. "I put you in danger when I didn't tell Tsunade-sama about my first collapse. The ANBU didn't tell either, granted, but I-"

"Do I look dead, sensei?"

Iruka snapped his eyes back up to be greeted with a serious, lone eye gazing at him over the dark mask. After a beat, he shook his head. "..No, you don't."

"Ah. Then, there's no problem on my behalf, now is there?"

A small frown formed on the sun-kissed forehead. "..I'm serious, Kakashi-san. I should have acted more responsible."

"Well, that's kind of expected since you're the one they all call '_the mother-hen_'", Kakashi ignored the light huff sent at his direction, "but there are less than few who have looked after me like you have, sensei...so if I happen to be able to train you in better shape, then I'd consider my debts paid." The jounin's masked smile was heard in those words, and Iruka felt something stir inside his gut as the meaning behind those words was slowly deciphered in his mind. Kakashi took a couple of steps forward and leaned over to the younger man, trapping the other between his hands that were slowly placed on the counter on the both sides of the honey-toned body. "Now, just to be sure that you don't burn my food when worrying about my lazy ass, take a good look and tell me if I look dead."

After eying the other for a passing minute, Iruka gave a silent sigh and looked away from the other man. "No. You don't look dead."

"So is there a problem concerning this mission?" Kakashi tilted his head to the side in inquiring manner and gave the worrying man's tense posture a lingering look. A persistent scent tried to peg his interest, but his mind tried equally hard to discard it as a passing delusion due to exhaustion.

"...Hell yes there is." The sudden change of tone made Kakashi blink. Then he spotted the tiny pull of the full lips on the other's face and knew that he could have bet all of his books to be greeted with mischievously smiling pair of dark eyes as he looked back up. Iruka gave the jounin a sly look and Kakashi let his eye stay for a second on the fervently bitten bottom lip on the bronze-skinned face. Even when he was certain that he was being currently scoffed, he couldn't help but let out a rumbling laughter at the smirking man who quickly joined him, the kitchen walls echoing from their cheerful outburst. Then, as quickly as it had surfaced, Iruka's laughter died and the chuunin whipped around on spot, almost hitting the silver-haired jounin's face with his high ponytail. "Shit! The fish!"

Kakashi stepped back and wiped his eyes clear from the gleeful tears before settling to observe the frantic man. "The fish?"

"It should be cooking already, otherwise we'll be here until midnight", Iruka said and gave a tiny curse as he opened the wrappings around their main dish before setting to work, giving the jounin quite an impressive view on how quick a set of skilled hands can really be with a filleting knife.

"Could you take out two bowls for me to make the sauce, Kakashi-san?" Iruka asked, his concentration focused solely on the fish he was preparing for their dinner. He had asked for a specific type of fish and wasn't about to let it go wasted if he had anything to say about it. Although, if his mind had payed enough attention at the other man who still stood behind his back, he would have heard his senses telling at him to use the knife for a way more dangerous lump of meat that was suddenly adorning an unhealthily evil smile on its masked lips.

"Sure", the low voice answered and Iruka felt the older man reach for the cupboard over his shoulder. The passing minuscule tremble made him roll his both shoulders on reflex, his busy mind discarding the phenomenon as a chill breeze from the open door. "Do you need more chopping boards as well?" Kakashi's deep voice asked near him and Iruka nodded while finishing the last slice on the fish fillet with practiced grace.

The subtle shudder traveling across his hips from right to left made him almost slice his fingertip in the process. Iruka took a calm breath and gathered his wits, feeling the odd sensations wear off as he shook his head. He was apparently feeling more tired than he had thought.

Kakashi took the boards hanging from the wall and offered them to Iruka who took a hold on the boards with one hand while he reached for the tap with the other to wash his hands before starting to fry the fish. "Thanks. Would you take out the skillet and the oven dish?" He suddenly felt himself stifle an abrupt moan the moment his hand hit the lukewarm water, making him quickly put the cutting boards on the counter, pull his hand out of the spray and dry it on the kitchen towel to get rid of the prickling sensations that were racing over the digits. The dark eyes gave the masked jounin a passing glance, but the silver-haired man seemed to pay no attention at the chuunin's odd behavior as he dug out the pans and dishes from the lower cupboards and placed them on the stove.

"Are you going to fry the fish lightly before putting it to the oven?" Kakashi asked and took the plate with the sliced fish closer to the skillet.

"Ah, no need for you to do that, we already agreed that I'd cook tonight-", Iruka said hastily and gave Kakashi a quick smile before snatching the fish fillets from the older man. Their hands brushed lightly against each other, making Iruka almost drop the dish as a pinching sting of electricity jolted through his arm. With his well-trained reflexes, Kakashi caught the precariously tipping fishes and put them safely on the counter, not noticing how the chuunin rubbed his fingers tentatively together after wiping off a faint trail of sweat forming on the sun-kissed temple, the brief display of growing confusion flashing in the dark eyes.

"Watch it sensei. As much as my nin-dogs enjoy their food on the floor-level it doesn't mean that I prefer my food that way." The jounin said with a wink and leaned closer to the teacher with a smile in his eyes, causing Iruka to feel a rather strong electric pulse wave hit his body when the other entered his personal space and making it increasingly difficult to keep his attention on the fish that was supposed to be his current priority. The bronze-skinned man took a quick step to the side and rounded to the other side of the older man from a safer distance, praying vehemently that the heat creeping down his neck wasn't caused by a visible blush.

"..Really? And here I thought that the summons start to resemble their owners at one point", the teacher gave a weak smirk at the chuckles from the other man and to his relief felt the strange sensations subside even as he stood quite near the snickering ex-ANBU. Then he shook his head and took a quiet, deep breath to calm his nerves. This was absurd, he could be overreacting for all he knew-

"Ah. There it is", a low voice said suddenly way too close to Iruka's ear and the teacher had to swallow both a curse and a mewl as he felt the trail of very strong trembles dance over the right side of his hip, back and neck as Kakashi lifted his hand and reached to take something from the cupboard that was facing the teacher. Forcing down the erupting tingles that were about to take over his body, Iruka used all of his training to concentrate on the fish and forced his muscles to obey as he plopped the first fillet on the skillet. As the pale meat let out the sizzling promise of nutrition the moment it touched the pan's hot surface, Iruka gave the jounin a brief, suspecting look over his shoulder.

Kakashi blinked at the look he was receiving and then raised the object he had retrieved from the shelf for the chuunin to see. "Salt."

Iruka took yet another calm breath and gave a stiff nod at the man. "Salt. Thank you." Then, with a last, slow look at the bewildered-looking jounin, he turned around and reached for a spatula to flip the fish around.

As the village genius placed the salt next to him, Kakashi's presence washed over his now hyper-sensitive senses and before Iruka could take a step away from the man, a stronger pulse of vicious electricity attacked his system, erupting his body into a frenzied fit of tremors and making Iruka's heart skip a beat. The honey-toned hands that were resting on the counter tensed and Iruka pierced the frying pan with a heated look, turning yet another rising moan into deep, shaky and long breath with great difficulty. _Why_ was this happening _now_? After all, they had already deemed it possible for their elements to be connected only to the emotional stress and he hadn't felt anything recently. Sure, he had been worried for the other, but his stress-levels weren't anywhere near the same figures than when he was pissed off. Then a lonely idea pushed eagerly through the muddled thoughts of the chuunin, and as the dark eyes stared at the frying fillet on the pan, the teacher's mind kicked into overdrive as the man took the spontaneously surfaced hypothesis into consideration. Then, slowly, the perceptive eyes turned to face the observant, lone gray that was looking at him, and the jounin cocked an amused eyebrow at the scrutinizing look cast at his way.

"..Maa...sensei. I have been complimented on my good looks, but I hardly make a good dinner if you burn the fillets." Kakashi's posture gave nothing away, the man stood as casually as always and carried the same arrogant and witty air around him, but Iruka could bet his entire tea collection that something was horribly off in their situation. What the hell was he missing?

Turning his mind back to present, Iruka scooped the fillet to safety in the oven dish before placing another one on the pan, the sounds of frying meat filtering through the awkward silence that stretched between the two shinobi. Iruka felt the other's eye on him as he fried the pale meat, his body thankfully feeling less heated for some reason while he concentrated on breathing through his nose to keep his current situation as well hidden as he could from the older man while his brain worked on the presented argument. There was a high possibility that Kakashi may have remembered finally what their elements could cause when they clashed, but it wasn't said that he was causing Iruka's problem intentionally. After all, his own element didn't seem to react visibly on any level at the odd things happening within his body, if the odd incident with the tap water didn't count. There was no other option for him than to observe and keep his...condition..as controlled as possible-

"I could finish the vegetables, neh? Help you out a little." The suddenly flared presence of the older man pressed on Iruka's right side like a heatwave, and as the familiar ache was ignited into life in his groin, the last fillet was almost flung to the wall when he was placing it into the oven dish. The teacher growled, slammed the used pan a bit more violently than necessary on the heat plate he had turned off and shoved the fish dish into the warm oven before directing a significantly strained smile at the jounin who had stopped in surprise with the knife held in one hand and the executed eggplant in the other.

"...I thought I said I'd handle the cooking, Kakashi-san," It took great effort to pronounce the words carefully and clearly while smothering the mewls that were clawing their ways out of his mouth. Iruka took out an another knife and with a definite strike murdered an innocent asparagus as he gave the jounin a long look, his opinion on the matter loud and clear. As the result, Kakashi gave an amused huff and shook his head while in mock defeat put down the chopping knife and the harmless vegetable. Then the older man put the hands in his pockets and pushed himself past the tanned teacher.

"Maa. Fair enough. I'll be reading in the bedroom in case you need me. Later", the low bass resonated through Iruka's figure when the older man walked away to the shared bedroom, leaving the chuunin alone in the kitchen.

The rain started to pound even more against the roof tiles, the increasing drumming going unnoticed by the man who immersed himself into a staring competition with the beheaded green as the bedroom door closed behind his back with an echoing click. While the enthusiastic rain turned into a storm, the dark-skinned fingers curled tighter around the kitchen knife's hilt and a dull thunk echoed in the otherwise soundless space when the tan forehead once again met the cupboard door.

Q

The empty plates clinked against each other as they were piled on the tray. "Maa, that was the best fish I've ever tasted, sensei. Your own recipe, I wonder?"

"Something I picked up along the way when I learned to cook. I'm happy that you liked it, Kakashi-san", Iruka smiled as he took the tray and stepped over to the kitchen where the happy sounds of the coffee maker and the water boiler filled the air. After putting the dishes into the sink, the chuunin filled their mug and cup and took them to the training room where he found Kakashi flipping through one of his books. Biting on his tongue to smother the rising bark on the poorly written trash, Iruka merely rolled his eyes at the sight and crouched down to shove the coffee at the pale-skinned pervert's field of vision.

The jounin noticed the offered coffee and put away his precious book. "Even coffee as a dessert? Who did I kill to deserve this?"

"Shut up, wisecrack. I can be considerate if I want to", Iruka countered and gave a lopsided smirk at the other's exaggerated expression of suspicion on the masked face. Who knew how expressive a pair of silver eyebrows can actually be.

"'_Considerate_', huh. That's an awfully big word. Are you sure you know what it means?"

"Bite me."

"I might."

"I thought you said you didn't eat from the floor."

"In your case I could make an exception", the lewd leer was blatantly visible in the lone eye, and Iruka felt his ears heat up as he caught the glance. Swallowing down the suddenly scolding tea he had on his tongue, the tan man coughed a couple of times before directing a suffering grimace at the jounin.

"I'm doomed to suffer through your idiotic innuendos until my early grave, aren't I?"

The playful wink felt awfully contradictory to the following words from the jounin. "With our average death rate at the age of thirty-five years, I'd say we should make the best of it, don't you agree?"

Iruka cocked a curious eyebrow at the statement, and even though he knew the man did have a valid point, it seemed a bit dark change of topic after discussing between the lines of engaging in the acts of a healthy libido on the closest flat surface. "Your training has really made you lose your shit, hasn't it?"

"Not really, no", the older man shook his head in light manner and gave a smile with his eyes. "You can thank the ghosts for that."

At those words, Iruka stopped the tea cup to his lips and cast a bemused look at his counterpart. The first thing he had learned from their mutual collegial collaboration was that privacy and Hatake Kakashi was an equation not many got even close to unraveling, let alone realizing that the man indeed had several things he kept to himself. Judging from the slightly unsettled look in the gray eye, even the man himself hadn't apparently anticipated his mouth to blabber on him.

Then, as the look passed the lightning user's eye, the teacher knew he was in for a remark in order to steer the discussion on different track before more revelations were spilled. "Speaking of ghosts and bad spirits, could you enlighten me a bit on how such a clean-oriented shinobi as you can drink something that smells like manure?" Kakashi gave a pointed look at the tea the other was holding, noticing it being the same pu'erh he had made in the morning. "That stuff could raise the dead if given a try."

Before he knew it, Iruka felt his mouth split into a wide smile. "Well, I need to have something to remind me of you when you're away on missions, Kakashi-san." The silence that dropped on them wasn't expected for either of them. A heat took over Iruka's cheeks and he hastily downed his drink while he felt the other's unwavering gaze on him. Then he stood up and took his cup to one corner of the training room, after which he continued his way to the alarm that leaned against the other wall, sensing the jounin's attention on him.

Kakashi could only blink at the teacher's statement. A light joke as it was, he had a nagging feeling that that particular slip carried a deeper layer than it first had appeared. After giving the alarm a pensive turn in the well-trained hands, the chuunin seemed to make a decision and Kakashi could guess what was going on in the brown-haired man's head. Before Iruka could set the time, though, the low voice of the other made him halt on the spot.

"I have an other proposition, sensei."

Q

"_Hell no_."

"Maa, sensei, at least as a thank you for the dinner, neh?"

"Stop pointing at me with that thing and take it back where you found it this instant." Iruka glared hard at the smiling man who held onto a tiny glass bottle, the oily substance sloshing in the vessel as the jounin dangled it in the air in his nimble fingers.

A dark hum arose from the masked throat and Kakashi took a slow step towards his prey, making Iruka retreat deeper in the training room. "Now, now, don't be so hasty. If I remember correctly, this is part of our orders from the Hokage. You wouldn't want her to hear that one of her most obedient chuunins-"

"One more word and I'll forget that we're comrades, asshole." The baritone was low and menacing.

Kakashi stopped and gave the massage oil a look before glancing back at the agitated teacher, the man looking ready to ditch the 'flight' and go straight for the mean and dirty 'fight' should the situation press any further. Then the jounin gave a huff and pointed the bottle at the troublesome renegade, his tone carrying a more formal tone instead of the easy-going one. "Take off your shirt, sensei."

It did take a second before Iruka could snap his jaw back up. "...Excuse me?"

"I can see that your back is still hurting like hell, unless you always bend yourself only from your knees and hips. This will help to ease the muscles, so I'd suggest to give it a go", the deep voice resonated suddenly closer than a second ago and Iruka had to blink to make his eyes register the man standing a mere two feet away. The masked assassin took a step forward, thus making Iruka's muscles tense ready to spring into action as the other's body entered in close range. The gray eye gave him a once-over before the silver-haired head tilted closer. "Either you take it off, or I soak it with the oil as well. Your choice."

The darkly clothed body pressed closer and Iruka had to control his urge to lash out at the man. It wouldn't do to attack the other now that the situation wasn't tied to training. Tsunade would kill them if they had to abort the mission due to an accidental yet imminent death of a team member, and he grudgingly admitted that Kakashi wouldn't be the one ending six feet under should they match to the bitter end.

His early grave started to look more and more plausible for what it came to their mission.

The smallest of tremors ran up Iruka's spine, and despite the adamant resistance he had put up against the massage, he felt the pained twinges jab his back muscles and was thus forced to face the facts. A defeated huff left his lips and the tan man gave a weak head shake. "You'd force the massage on me no matter how I would decline, wouldn't you?"

A happy nod was given as an answer to his question. "Most likely. I'll only work on your back, so there's no need to be so hell-bent against it. Trust me, you won't get much sleep with constant pain disturbing your dreams." The gray eye regarded the dark brown ones with a seriousness Iruka hadn't seen before on the older shinobi. Then the jounin stepped a few feet back to the center of the training room and turned to give a wink over his shoulder, the playful smirk wide underneath the dark mask. "We can use my bed for this, I'll just fetch a couple of towels first."

The rain held its breath, and Kakashi observed in anticipation as the sun-kissed lips twitched in a desperate attempt to stop the equally wicked smirk from forming on the full-lipped mouth. Then again, they both knew it was futile now that their ritual of tongue-lashing had commenced. Soon enough, Iruka's eyes flashed and the jounin was served with a teasing, almost sensual smirk on the full lips. "There's no way in seven hells that you'd get me into your bed with an oil bottle, Kakashi-san."

A mere shrug was sent in Iruka's direction, but the lecherous tone stayed present in Kakashi's words. "Ah, well. I assume you have some other suggestion to offer on how to do it then, if my bed's unworthy for your standards."

Iruka couldn't prevent the wide grin spreading further on his lips. The pale bastard had intentionally chosen his words, knowing the bright-minded chuunin couldn't stop himself from targeting the lewd meanings behind the said sentences. Without breaking the eye contact, Iruka felt his body heat up as he carefully pulled his muscle shirt over his head, the burning pain that followed his actions making a quiet hiss escape his mouth. He was really beaten, but it was nothing that could stop him from dropping the shirt to the floor in an almost stripteasing manner and giving the older man a slow, evaluating once-over before flashing a coy smirk at the ex-ANBU. "...You can do me on the floor as well, Kakashi-san. No need to stain your sheets."

The glint that flashed in the lone eye made his pulse speed up a bit, and as Iruka settled cross-legged on the floor and sensed the other man move behind him, an abrupt shudder of anticipation traveled down his body. The oil bottle's cap gave a soft click as it was opened, and Iruka felt his shoulders tense as his ears picked the sounds behind his back, the teacher listening intensely as the oil was poured on the pale hands and then warmed up between the skilled palms, the even breathing of their village's best assassin forming the white noise that mixed the slippery sounds of the scented oil. A faint trace of fresh, just fallen rain poked at Iruka's nose and the chuunin took a deep inhale of the aroma. There was definitely some chakra mixed in the substance for it to give so distinct scent, and Iruka gave a soft chuckle when he realized how at ease the scent had put him. The Hokage really knew her subordinates to the tiniest detail.

"Found something amusing, sensei?"

"Just reminding myself to give a better look underneath a couple of things." Iruka snickered at the thoughtful hum that was heard from behind his back. Then he gave a glance over his shoulder and realized that the pale hands were glowing in faint blue hue.

Kakashi nodded at the teacher's musings as he met the other's eyes, guessing that the other had understood what the blue glow indicated. "Let me know if you start to feel strange, neh?"

Swallowing down the growing nervousness that had again started to creep up his system, Iruka seated himself better on the floor, placed his hands on his knees and gave a firm nod as he released a deep breath to relax his stance. The tingle of chakra was first to dance over his skin even before the firm hands touched his back, and it didn't take long for the deft fingers to find the hurting spots. Iruka closed his eyes to keep his breathing even and emptied his mind from the hysteric fact that he was given a massage by hands that could have easily snapped his neck if their owner wished to, and that the thought owner was let unguarded behind his back.

"Not so bad, is it?" Kakashi mused half-aloud as he observed the reactions of the honey-toned body and felt pleased as he worked on several tense spots, feeling the other's muscles submit into obedience under his care and seeing the pained tension ease away slowly. The sight of the mocha-colored back wasn't bad either, the oil making the broad shoulders reveal their whole dimension and the strong shoulder blades stood proudly out before making the viewer's look settle on the scarred tissue running next to the spine. The former Hound ran his hand over the scar he had only heard rumors about and had regarded from a distance when they had showered, and heard a faint moan leave the chuunin's mouth, it causing a warm smile bloom on his masked mouth.

...A smile that slowly turned into a dark smirk. Carefully, the jounin gathered his focus.

It wasn't so bad after all. Iruka gave a silent sigh as a particularly nasty clutch of nerves gave in under the jounin's nimble hands and the teacher already enjoyed the thought of not waking up stiff and crippled the next day. Despite their disputes and overall justified suspicion towards each other, the brown-haired nin felt he had to revise some of his opinions on the pale-skinned nuisance. A subtle wave of satisfied tremors ran over his shoulders as the pale hands gave a firm roll on the abused tendons, and a moan dropped from the full-lipped mouth before Iruka's brain caught up with the sensations that were gradually taking over his body. The dark eyes peered halfway open and the previously blissfully uncaring mind of the trained shinobi took a turn into a more aware and alert one. Yet another wave of delicious shivers washed over his upper back, and the breath hitched in his lungs as an unexpected thought knocked against the chuunin's mental barriers.

_Would you prefer enjoying me on the floor, Kakashi-san?_

His currently relaxed body snapped into full attention as the realization dawned on the dazed shinobi, not a second too early before a sudden, aching heat that gathered in his loins stopped the man's heart altogether. The trickle of sweat that traveled down his chest made his nipples harden on its way, which was the final clue on what was happening, giving space for the instincts that yelled in unison about the only sane action he should consider taking right now.

He had to pull away. _Immediately_.

Something was happening with the cinnamon chuunin, Kakashi was sure of it. The muscles that were pliant just a minute ago were suddenly steel hard. The thundering, gray eye narrowed and the pale lips pulled into a feral smirk as Kakashi compared the reactions he had managed to cause on the brown-eyed pest's body. This was similar to what he had witnessed in the kitchen previous hours ago when he had first tested his theory, and felt his gut explode into a flock of butterflies as the scent he had smelled so many times earlier pushed through the massage oil's aroma.

The blade was being drawn out.

"..I..I think you've done enough for me, Kakashi-san. You can stop." The warm baritone trembled ever so slightly, and not caring if the bronze-skinned demon's quiet whimper was intentional or not, he went in for the kill. Silently, he leaned almost flush to the broad back and curled his fingers more firmly around the tense shoulders as he tilted his head near the sweating ear.

"..Maa...If you wish me to stop, then answer the question you know I have waiting on my tongue, sensei."

The huskily whispered words threw Iruka's alarms into red alert. Beside the scorching arousal that was wrecking destruction through his systems, the temperamental man felt his mood plummet into a dark abyss before rocketing back up with renewed vigor when the conclusion dawned on the chuunin at the given request, his situation slamming against his gut like a sledgehammer.

This wasn't a drill.

As he had been trained before, Iruka released the gathered strength in his muscles with one swift go and plunged forward in order to dislodge himself from the iron hold on his shoulders, only to feel the strong hands dig more into is flesh and yank him back in place. The tan hands shot up to rip his capturer's limbs off him, but all he managed was to claw futilely the deadly fingers and arms pressing him to the floor. As an nauseating wave of blue-tinted haze took over his mind, his pulse sped up considerately and he could feel his lungs start to burn from the lack of oxygen, his breathing having become shallow and rapid. The presence of the other male felt like a led weight against his body, and the oil that trickled down his back set into fiery trails crossing his heated skin. A low moan ripped through his chest and his body arched like a bow under the powerful man's grip, grinding his aching hips against the matted floor and erupting his nether regions into wanton heat, making him almost miss the murmured words from his torturer.

"You know..Iruka...I think we'll have plenty to discuss if you'd just open that mouth of yours sufficiently enough." Kakashi realized he had unconsciously tightened his hold on the other while he had perceived the man's struggling under his hands, and he noticed the astounding amount of sweat that covered the taut, tanned flesh, the trained muscles shivering under his gaze. What took him completely by surprise was the low purr that suddenly rumbled from the flushed and twisting body, and his instincts stirred into life on a whole new level when the intoxicating scent he had smelled many times before curled around them into a tight cocoon.

On that note, before he could prevent it, his vision became bright blue.

The ear-piercing screech resembling a flock of birds went unheard by the neighboring houses, the barriers ringing around the light gray house in a chaotic cacophony before the high-pitched cry died as sharply as it had surged through the air, leaving only a deafening silence in its wake.

Q

After the darkness made room for his consciousness, Kakashi found himself staring at the pitch black ceiling with a searing pain in his chest, and as he recovered his hazy senses to get a better view on what the hell had happened to him, a faint sound of shower carried over the unsettling silence in the training room. After a moment of silence, the jounin tentatively raised his hands to his chest, noting the subtle shaking and traces of heat left on them, realizing only then that he was soaked thoroughly in a very similar way as in the day before. A series of water drops hitting the tatami mats was all the silent room heard from the pale assassin as the man picked himself up from the floor and gave the closed bathroom doors a long, intense look.

The thundering eye gleamed like a meticulously sharpened kunai in the dark space.

Q

Filling his suffocating lungs with deep gulps of air, Iruka leaned himself on his uncontrollably shaking hands against the wall of the shower stall, the last traces of scorching arousal being washed away with the chill water running over his trembling body. The dazed eyes followed the rivers of water flow down the drain while the dark-skinned man tried to comprehend what had happened the moment he had rushed under the shower and the first droplets had hit his half-naked body. He had almost fainted from the sheer pleasure that had taken over his veins, nerves and muscles and was powerless to do anything to stop his convulsing body from taking what it had wanted, hence accumulating his dirty laundry for the next day. It was out of pure luck that he had managed to catch Kakashi by surprise the moment he felt the lightning bolt charge the air around them, the fear for losing all of his control kicking his muscles into action and getting him away from the source of his current discomfort. With a last, shaky inhale, the teacher closed his eyes, curled gently his shaking hands into tight fists and shattered a tile with a sharp hit as the dreadful hypothesis was verified to him.

The arrogant, scheming bastard had not only remembered what their elements were capable of causing but had managed to turn the revelation into a weapon, and he had played right into the fucker's hands.

Regrettably, though, the Sharingan user had underestimated his opponent.

QQQ

_[1] If you haven't been introduced to this tea type, then I suggest you give a go if you're interested. It has a delicious and full palate, and I love the earthy undertones in it, but for those with no earlier experience with, say, cowsheds, the scent could be a bit...overwhelming. Gorgeous tea, highly recommended._

_[2] Absolutely divine green tea with roasted rice in it. It can also include matcha sometimes. Speaking of which, if you ever come across the orgasmic treat called 'matcha ice cream', I guarantee that you'll wet your pants. If you in general like green teas, that is. Easy to make yourself as well, since all you need is plain vanilla ice cream and a tin of matcha powder, then put approximately one tea spoon (or more, if you're as hard core tea drinker as yours truly is) into a regular little bowl for one portion and stir well. The vanilla will disappear and submit to the matcha and the sweet, sweet bliss will make your day. Surprisingly though, it isn't too sweet at all, which was a happy surprise to a person who doesn't enjoy the icky sugar-y bombs that melt your teeth and give you both hallucinations and a hell of a sugar hangover.  
_

_AN: I'm hyping over tea and analyzing the effects of a sugar rush instead of asking for bones...summer it is._

QQQ~QQQ

_Oh, and..well..I thought you might enjoy this small teaser for the other story I developed a few weeks ago at three a.m.:_

"But you, _monsjoo_-"  
"_Monsieur__, crétin!"_  
"_I don't care how you fuckers pronounce it_, since you, you little _shithead_ told me that you were a mere instructor! _AN INSTRUCTOR!_"  
"_Mais bien sûr_, I was, and I still am in case you didn't notice, so grow a pear-"  
" '_Pair_', you mean-"  
"_Bon_, grow a _'pair'_ and be kind and 'old still so I can.._euh_, 'ow you say...ah, "_shoot you in the 'ead_", _s'il te plaît_. I want this done clean, _compris_?"

_AN: And the battle continues, only in different setting. As for the aspect of pissing off almost every person that thinks that this is something nobody should do on the 21st century...ah, well, playing with languages, especially my own, is something I've grown into ever since my childhood in a highly verbal environment, so this is done for making you guys laugh with tears in your eyes and not for demeaning any beautiful cultures that are out there. I'll write this out of respect to the versatile and fascinating world of human language, and for the joys one can have when learning it and fooling around with it. _

_Plus a French Iruka is sexy as hell when you take a moment to consider it._


	12. Day 9

_AN: Ah. The joys of being on a vacation; giving out more updates than just one per month. For those who haven't already realized where some elements of this story are slowly advancing to, I will warn you that even though the main focus is not on the sexual content but in the hilarious romance between two stubborn yet irresistible idiots (and also completing the Hokage's research on the side), the things will turn into more sexual kind as the days pass by towards the end of this peculiar research mission, and I when you read the warning for mature action in the author's notes at the beginning of the chapter, you know to anticipate it and then to cover your eyes when it suits you the best. Or your nose. Although, for those who are already anticipating that kind of action and got all worked up by the previous chapter (as I thank you for your reviews and messages for making my days again), be patient since the time isn't right yet._

But I still hope that you guys enjoy this chapter.

Day 9: The chaos effect caused by an intervening ANBU

The rainy weather seemed to have decided to lengthen its stay over Konoha, and the villagers made their way in the gray dawn light while watching out for deep puddles and sudden heavy downpours that made the drainpipes flood and thus spill their content on the unfortunate ones passing them that moment. The children sploshed eagerly through every miniature pond they could step on on their way to the ninja academy and civilian schools, knowing that they'd get the scolding of a lifetime if their guardians ever saw them soil their rain gears, not realizing that even if the act itself couldn't be seen, the spilled mud and dirt on their coats and boots was enough of an evidence to grant them with a lecture when they'd be back home.

The ignorance of the innocent.

While fingering the tea cup in his hands, Iruka observed the pouring rain from the gaps between their bedroom and training room doors. At the sight of the graphite gay scenery, the tan chuunin gave a silent chuckle, knowing that Shikamaru was definitely having the shadowy hands full with his students at that moment. He could still remember how his classroom had looked like on his first year when he wasn't so accustomed to the devious minds of children, the first rainy day bringing the joys of muddy shoes and equally muddy hands leaving traces on every surface they could reach, making the space look more like a kitchen after a failed attempt to use explosive tags as cake candles than a room meant for diligent studying. He had screamed his throat hoarse that day, and even the neighboring classes had started to pay better attention to their tidiness after he had made his thoughts clear on making an unnecessary mess.

He admitted that it was highly recommended for children to play outside, and even he himself enjoyed making artificial 'lakes' by combining puddles to one another by tiny gutters crossing the yard with his students (he even taught geographical strategies occasionally in that way), but hell, they didn't need to recreate the said lakes inside the school as well with their soaked clothing.

He taught them water jutsus for that reason.

On the thought note of the fluid element, the chuunin felt a tic on his eyebrow. The fingers holding the cup tightened ever so finely on the porcelain surface, and the dark eyes, previously amused, now sharp and hardened, turned their attention to the evenly breathing, silver-haired occupant of their shared bedroom. He could feel his eyes droop from the lack of proper sleep, him having been over half of their night awake and keeping an eye on the obnoxious asshole who dared to sleep with no worries whatsoever concerning the harassed and highly homicidal colleague of his glaring kunais at his head a few feet away. A yawn broke out of his mouth, and Iruka gave a sleepy glance at his matcha, deeming the dose too weak to keep him from keeling over and snoozing to the next week.

Which he would very much prefer over the other, more realistic options he had to face.

Such as the ex-ANBU having been awake for the past fifteen minutes.

"...Morning." Ice felt rather warm when compared to the chuunin's voice.

After a moment's notice, the silvery tuft wiggled and a gray eye peeked over the covers to give him an unreadable look. "...Good morning."

Iruka felt his throat constrict around a bubbling growl, and the chuunin turned the primitive sign of aggression into the cold act of being civilized enough not to pummel the fucker to death right that instant with his porn book collection. "Coffee?"

The look in the gray eye became a speculative one. "...Thank you."

With that Iruka gulped down the rest of his green tea and stood up as gracefully as one could with sleep-deprivation, then made his tired way to the kitchen that bathed in the gray, pale light. He filled up the coffee maker's tank and then put the grains in to the opened filter before clicking the machine on, after which he helped himself with another cup of his own source of caffeine by opening the tea tin and taking the needed amount of tea powder with a tea spoon after filling the cup with the needed water, knowing that he needed something to keep his hands occupied now that the dickhead in the other room was up and about.

He would otherwise do something he might regret later on.

As the chugging and hissing of the kitchen machine filled the air and his hands stirred the spring green powder in the water with a tiny whisk made of bamboo, the academy instructor sensed the other man step silently in the dark corridor. Then the toilet door gave a soft click, and for keeping his nerves calm and steeled for such a long time through the last night and the current morning, Iruka bit his cheeks hard to stop himself from chortling at the hysteric thought of the copy-nin calmly finishing his morning routines before battling with his team member over morning coffee made by his future victim. Once having mixed his tea, Iruka rinsed the tiny whisk before putting it back in its place in his wooden tea box, and the teacher took a taste of the new cup, his tired mind twirling idly over the issue of relieving oneself while on duty.

Then again, it could make that perverted lazy-ass faster with his work when he'd perform his missions with a full bladder.

Tea never felt good when it was swallowed through the nostrils, and a tan hand was slammed on the choking mouth as the chuunin fought off a fit of coughs, his whole frame shaking with mute chokes.

The absurdity of their situation was apparently finally getting to him after the poorly slept night.

..Absurd. He wasn't sure if that word could cover all of the things he had passing in his mind the previous night, not to mention the previous days they've spent together on this mission. Having muffled the coughs away, the teacher gave an exasperated sigh with a glare directed at the grass green liquid. "Are you going to stare at my back the whole day or grow a pair and come and drink your coffee, Kakashi-san?"

The silver-haired nin appeared almost soundlessly at his side, and Iruka gave the other man a short glance from the corner of his eye. Despite having slept the night through, the eyes over the mask still managed to sport quite dark rings under them, and the teacher frowned at that discovery. The older man looked like he had been awake the whole night. Had he been deceived with the man's act? The jounin calmly filled his mug and took a long inhale of his black god of addiction, but the moment the gray eye snapped to answer his suspecting look, Iruka turned his own eyes away from the man. He could feel his arms tense up on the sense of danger, the anxious feeling taking over his muscles with every passing second with the older nin standing next to him. He knew they couldn't harm each other, at least not fatally, but both the killing intent and the response to it came naturally to them in stressful situations, all thanks to their training as shinobi.

What made Iruka's body more agitated, though, was that it wasn't the killing intent that was radiating from the pale-skinned assassin.

It was the same combination of hard, cold arrogance and threat that had been present during the chuunin nominations when they had had their first real argument.

"...Did you know that the most common reason for failed missions wasn't caused by the failed compatibility of the shinobis themselves, but that the assigned team and their captain couldn't merge themselves within the team, not being able to really use each other as their shared hands, legs and minds?" The low, even voice felt like a roar through the thick silence between them, and Iruka felt his body twitch in temptation to throw a punch at the man's tone. He had thought that they would have gotten past this phase in their friendship already. Apparently he was mistaken. Then again, that meant that he now had the permission to engage in this exchange of strikes with no remorse.

The brown eyes turned to face the piercing gray one, and the chuunin kept his voice calm and steady as his dark orbs narrowed into thin slits while the carefully chosen words dropped from his lips. "If I had known the way you treat your body and mind I would have refused to work as your partner on this mission, jounin-san."

The look in the thundering eye was cold and steel-hard. "You're not in any position to question my resolutions on this matter, Iruka-sensei."

Something vicious and hot curled in his gut, and without acknowledging it, Iruka stepped closer to the masked nin and fixed the man with a fiery scowl promising pain beyond the common sense of teacher's ethics. "What happened last night is all the reason I need to report you to Tsunade-sama and ask her to either intervene or intercept this research. That was unprofessional, unethical and deeply insulting what you did to me, and it's _not_ the way one treats their team members, were they compatible with you or not. Especially when it's you, _Hatake-san_."

For some odd reason, Kakashi felt his temper turn darker at the younger man's words. "What this mission needs-" Suddenly the blazing, dark pools of intensely burning fire were staring right at him only an inch away and he could feel the warm breath of the mocha-colored man against his surprised masked face.

"This mission doesn't _need_ your personal dilemmas to twist the results, Tsunade-sama doesn't _need_ our disputes to wreck her precious work and as long as there's even an ounce of strength in my muscles and a capable tongue in my mouth I don't _need_ to tolerate this fucking immature shit from you, superior or not. You're endangering our assignment only because you can't handle it when you're denied from something you want and you're forced to make an effort on the things you need", in the back of his mind, Iruka knew that he was giving the man openings more than he should, but both his mouth and body seemed to have made a pack for making his thoughts known at the one-eyed ass without the consent of his brain. The foreign gleam that slowly swirled in sight in the other's narrow eye was also making it harder to keep his lips in a safe distance from the other man's own, not to mention keeping his thoughts straight.

The argument he had meant to give at the lecturing man turned into a low, rumbling purr instead as Kakashi's thundering eye lingered on the full-lipped mouth that formed the scolding words, and after a beat the copy-nin realized that he had leaned his head closer to the temperamental man's angry face, now being able to smell the sweet aroma of the odd, intensely green-colored tea the man had meticulously prepared earlier. Somewhere in the parts of his mind which tried to keep the focus on the words the other was still spilling, he noticed the last notes turn into a shaky mutter and more felt than heard the final word brush against his masked lips.

Then...a snort was heard.

The silence between the now three occupants in the kitchen was tangible, and while he closed his eyes, took a deep breath and used the sheer willpower of a professional genin tormenter to reign in his urge to spin around and toss the water boiler at the assassin who was hidden behind the ever-annoying porcelain mask, Iruka felt hardly any doubt about how their situation had looked like at that moment in the eyes of the chronically ill-timing elite.

The man was doing it intentionally.

He was sure of it.

The ANBU gave a soft cough, undoubtedly in attempt to dissolve the heavy ambiance and failing terribly in it, and then took out a folded paper with a seal from his belt pouch and pointed it at Iruka's stiff back. "A letter to Umino-san. Hokage-sama believes it's from Uzumaki-kun."

"Naruto...?" Iruka gave a slow blink at the name that rang a chorus of five bells in his head. Then his muscles went into action and he swiftly turned around to take the offered paper from the armored shinobi. "Thank you." Without directing even a glance at either of the masked jounins in the kitchen, the tan chuunin strode briskly into the bedroom and closed the door behind him with a clear demand for others to stay out unless they wanted to count their teeth from the floor.

Both the former and the present ANBU stared after the dark-skinned nin in silence before Kakashi shifted his eye to regard the masked shinobi a few feet away. The kohai, after sensing his health being endangered, dared to answer the keen look in the thundering eye after a moment of hesitation, and since he was one of the few that had given the privilege to work with the infamous Hound, the unfortunate ANBU was adept enough in reading his senpai's body language to understand that he had interrupted something with his postal delivery and that his ex-colleague wasn't pleased about the possibility of him witnessing how the high-regarded, retired ANBU captain was being scolded about his bad behavior like a snotty academy student.

"I think we have some matters to discuss, neh, Tenzou", said the deep, rumbling voice with an echo of a rising thunder in it. "Coffee?"

Q

As the morning slowly turned into early noon, the double doors to the shared bedroom slid open and Iruka stepped out into the training room with the unsealed, once again folded letter in hand. The chuunin listened the sounds of the house and noticed that at some point the rain had ceased for a while when he had been absorbed by the scrawny writing of his former student. Thinking about the letter reminded him to search for the older man, even though after the first encounter of the day he wasn't exactly looking forward to meet the Sharingan user. They still had matters to argue about, but perhaps the letter could ease the explosive tension they were currently having and make the bastard sane enough to continue with their task rather than risk their necks for Tsunade's punishments that were sure to land on them should they make things any more difficult for the fair-haired medic.

It also didn't benefit him if the man stayed alert for the whole day.

Resisting the demonic smirk that was threatening to display on his lips, Iruka opened the doors leading to the terrace and spotted the subject of his musings sitting a small distance away. By the looks of it it seemed that the ANBU had taken off and the jounin was apparently deeply lost in his thoughts.

"It's rude to stare, you know."

Or not.

Iruka gave an eye-roll and stepped to the terrace next to the sitting man. He sat down with his legs crossed and followed the other's gaze over the muddy yard and to the village around them, the nearby houses glistening with moisture on their roofs. Then he poked the older man's arm with the folded paper and gave the questioning look a small, timid smile without looking at the man. "Naruto addressed this to you as well."

The letter was taken from his hand, and Iruka listened as the paper was carefully smoothed open to reveal the news concerning the blonde bundle of chaos, havoc and mayhem they both had had the questionable honor to teach in the art of being a fine shinobi. The rain began once again, the light drips pinging against the already soaked roof tiles in the soothing melody of the beginning summer which filled the air between the two men on the chill terrace. Iruka could hear the breathing of his counterpart, and was also intrigued when a couple of louder sniffs escaped the masked jounin. Out the corner of his eye, he saw the dark gray eye being squinted in a way that resembled...happiness? Then the rustle of the paper made him shift his eyes away before the silver-haired nin looked back up at the rain.

"He's in good hands, it seems." The deep voice was warm and light.

"Seems so, yes", Iruka nodded and couldn't help but give a soft smile. "Even though I'm a bit skeptical if he'd ever stop using the sexy-no-jutsu now that he's been trained by one of the biggest perverts in Konoha's history." The following chuckle made his smile spread wider.

"Unlikely, unfortunately", Kakashi rolled his eyes in amused manner, knowing them both soon having their share on that peculiar skill. Then he shifted into better posture on the damp wooden floor with his hands on his lap, the pale fingers running along the edge of the worn paper, and gave the tan teacher a passing look. "But you still miss him and his antics, don't you." The statement clearly came out of the blue for Iruka, and Kakashi saw the dark eyes widen momentarily at the spoken words. Then a more brighter look took over the tan face while a small snicker escaped the younger man's mouth.

"...Yeah. I miss him too."

The dark brown eyes turned to give a wink at the unreadable gray. Then, a small chortle broke out beneath the dark mask and the silver-haired jounin bowed his head. He heard Iruka laugh lightly at his 'defeat', and the infamous copy-nin felt a more genuine smile tug his masked lips. As much as the boy had increased exponentially the amount of gray hair among his silver ones, he was glad to be acknowledged as the blonde's teacher by his village, moreover by the genin himself. If only-

"...We've all made mistakes with our students, yours truly in particular, and I have already said that you're a good sensei when all the things are considered." Kakashi snapped his thoughts back to present and was greeted with a sad smile on the chuunin's features. The academy instructor gave a sigh and shook his head, and after the brown eyes had given a lingering look at Kakashi's demeanor the dark-skinned nin fixed him with a more mischievous look. "I'm also not one to get involved with complete morons, even though you do your best to drive me up the walls every now and then."

Kakashi felt a small stir in his gut for the hidden compliment, and gave a pensive flip of the unfolded letter in his pale hands that have been accustomed to hold both dead and living in their grasp. "Good to hear that, sensei." The smile in the mismatched eyes was honest that time. Then the skilled fingers folded the sheet back into more compact form and handed it back to the other recipient. "It's good to hear from the boy as well. Even though half of the time goes in wondering if I'm holding the text upside down..."

"I thought that it wouldn't be a problem for you to read texts that are tortured to death as well as yours usually are." The nonchalant tone did nothing to hide the jab in the rich baritone.

"Actually, against the common belief, my handwriting is quite clear and neat."

The sharpened look was a clear warning for him.

"..I'll go get the bells."

Q

"Maa, hold still, now-"

"It hurts, it really, _really_ _hurts_!"

"I'd be surprised if it didn't. It appears that we really should have stretched more this section here-"

"Hindsight is a bitch and I'm about to slap one if you don't hurry with it!"

"Mind the language on your healer, sensei. I could make a slip."

"Healer or not, you're still a- _KAMI!"_

"That's the spirit."  
_  
_Q

As the pale, lean legs carried him out of the kitchen with a plate in each of his hands, Kakashi gave a small smile at the rumbled-looking sensei who sat waiting for him in the training room. "How's the shoulder?" A pouting huff was the answer, and the jounin had to stifle a snigger at the grumpy look in the other's face as he maneuvered the plates on the floor before sitting on the mat himself with his back against the other man. Iruka did give him the needed privacy for eating and had kept those dark eyes to himself quite well, but now the humid air made Kakashi want to lower his mask off completely for eating instead of constantly pulling it back and forth on his face. Even he himself got annoyed from it from time to time, and to be honest, he was a bit interested on how the other managed to ignore his most guarded secret so well.

"It's alright...I guess", Iruka gave the shoulder a tentative roll and winced as the joint that had nearly been dislocated gave a sharp twinge. "Emphasis on the guess at the moment."

"We have to be more careful with the other matches, then. You did injure it quite badly."

"I wouldn't have if a certain someone hadn't kicked me to the floor while I was still in the air."

"There's hardly any reason to accuse me for choosing a poor strategy." The jounin pointed the teacher over his shoulder with his chopsticks and then twirled them in his fingers before piercing an innocent bit of a melon. "You make mistakes to learn from them, especially in combat training since the one who loses usually doesn't get a second chance in the real battle." The jounin regarded the brutalized piece of the light orange fruit for a moment. "...You'd be dead by now if I were your actual opponent."

He could sense the teacher lower the chopsticks on the plate.

Q

The pale fists whammed against the wall in a rhythmical set resembling loud drums as they followed their frantically dodging prey, the tanned man slipping away each time the hands reached the suitable range. Iruka dove down in a low crouch and with a strong push given by his legs against the wall, he launched himself at the older nin's middle torso and successfully tackled the man to the ground, ending them in a frenzied pile of limbs and grunts as they wrestled for the victory on the woven mats.

Kakashi reached his hands behind the already sweating, mocha-colored neck and pulled Iruka down as he rolled on top of the younger man, already settling his weight on the other in order to pin his opponent to the floor and get the chiming bell on the other's hips. Then the chuunin managed to surprise him and pull the lean legs between them and use them to push the copy-nin from above the other before rolling away and stumbling back on the seemingly hurting legs, not that the chased chuunin had any time to concentrate on the dull ache as the jounin was already moving towards him on the ground level, the man definitely aiming at the other's midriff. The teacher darted away from the man's range and used the nearby wall to run upwards it and then plunge himself over the other's head, ending behind the broad, sweaty back and assaulting it with his cutting roundhouse kick.

The jounin spun around to block the oncoming kick in a nick of time with his arms and then took a hold of the kicking leg, seized the shin and reached for the strong thigh in order to fold the leg by the knee and make the other nin lose the balance. Before he could perform that plan, though, Iruka's hands shot out to take a firm hold onto the pale shoulders and the pair stilled with Kakashi having a good grip on he twitching leg and Iruka having a bruising hold onto the copy-nin's upper torso, neither of them willing to let go. Slowly, Iruka increased the resistance in his captured leg and felt his muscles wail under the iron hold of the other man as he tried to twist free. Then, he pulled back his fist.

The sudden strike sent at his direction did make Kakashi lose his hold on the limb, and he ducked away from the following second hit, ending within a short distance from the stubborn assailant.

They stilled, both already sweaty, tired and panting from the day's fifth match, and both the gray and brown eyes darted to check on the set alarm.

Two minutes.

Their eyes met again.

Both the tan and the pale body went into action.

Q

"Would you take the first shower turn, Kakashi-san?"

"Separate showers, sensei? How cold."

"You can only blame yourself for that since I'm not letting you anywhere near my naked ass after the last night."

"Maa, you wouldn't be so cruel to deny the man his simple pleasures, now would you?"

The bathroom's double doors echoed with the loud wham as they slid between his head and the tan fist that was sent towards it, and Kakashi chuckled to himself as the outraged stream of colorful curses was heard behind the closed door. The jounin stripped off the sweaty singlet and dropped it in the already quite full hamper with the rest of his dirty clothes. At the sight of the accumulating pile of their dirty clothes, the lightning user mused that they'd need to do the laundry soon again, otherwise they would have to include the results of a chemical war in the research. It wouldn't be pretty, he was sure of it. After having stripped completely, Kakashi turned his thoughts away from the aspects of misusing a pile of soiled clothes in combat and stepped under the warming water while listening as the rain's pattern mixed with the water that hit his body. He always felt content after a long day if he was given the possibility to wash himself, which was something he always argued about with his ninken who weren't so keen on getting any baths. The pale hands reached for the shampoo and the older man released a low purr as he massaged his scalp clean from the sweat and dirt, his mood lightening considerately at the promise of the new pillow Tenzou should have delivered on his bed by now-

Then it hit his nose.

As the water caressed his currently frozen muscles and the suds from the shampoo were rinsed from his hair, the jounin gave another sniff, only to feel a fluttering flock of butterflies invade his gut as the scent became clearer.

...It couldn't be.

The dark eyes were narrowed and Iruka bit his lips as beads of sweat trickled down his unmoving body. The tan hands were pressed against the bathroom's doors on the training room's side, and the silent shinobi had his concentration focused solely on the target behind the said sliding doors. He sensed the heavy rain pour against their ceiling, he could clearly sense the warm water of the shower flow on the white tiles, gather into puddles and then go down the drain, he could picture the droplets of warm water travel on the pale, taut body and he could feel the prominent bulge that was currently forming in his pants as his element connected with the electric current that for some odd reason was currently surrounding the other man, but he paid no mind on that detail.

After all, he had a naughty jounin to discipline.

The sun-kissed fingers tensed on the wooden surface as a smile not boding well to any deity nor mortal within a twenty mile radius crept on the full lips. _Let's see how you like the life's irony, asshole._

He let the last restraints fall from his emotions, and the moment his temper went up so did his arousal and for a moment the room spun before his eyes as he struggled to keep the rapidly losing control on his own body as the fundamental base of his being unleashed itself on the unsuspecting victim in the bathroom.

Still dazed from the unnerving scent that seemed to follow him everywhere nowadays, Kakashi backed off from the water in order to clear his thoughts, only to slip and fall heavily on his back with his hips still under the shower spray. A pained groan fell from the unmasked lips and the copy-nin felt his backbone give a mighty sting due to the hard impact with the tiled floor. A series of dribbles hit the copy-nin's skin and the gray eye turned to observe the falling miniature rain that descended upon him from the room's ceiling. He had fallen heavier than he thought to have caused that.

An ominous chuckle dropped from the dark lips. _Too easy._ A small pulse left from his fingertips.

A horrified yelp of pain and misery rang in the steamed up room as Kakashi felt his crotch freeze under the suddenly icy water, which also turned the still dropping water from the ceiling into icy rain hitting the rest of his pale body with glacial glee. The pale man rolled instantly on his stomach in order to protect his precious bits from the frosty death, only to get pinned to the floor as the water's weight took a turn into something reminding him of his most powerful water dragon jutsu, forcing the poor jounin down flat on his front under the violent shower. With his arms and legs trembling both from the struggle against the heavy stream and the chilled drop of the temperature, Kakashi painstakingly slowly managed to pick himself halfway up under the spray, the mismatched eyes glaring death under the soaked bangs at whatever it was that had decided to interrupt his sacred shower moment.

And he had a pretty good hunch on who that suicidal fucker might be.

Meanwhile, the tanned thought culprit took a deep breath and wiped his face on his shoulder, only to realize that his tank top was soaked through with sweat and thus getting the confirmation that the occurrence was indeed connected to his element's character. With that revelation in mind, Iruka closed his eyes and noticed that the jounin had almost managed to sit up under the spray. The man was indeed professional, he could give him that. A grin that revealed a row of teeth splayed on the chuunin's face. Quickly, the nimble fingers moved up and down against the closed door.

The wet sploshing caught Kakashi's attention as he was about to get back on his feet, and as the irresistible scent once again assaulted his nostrils and made his head reel, a pillar of water suddenly gushed up in the air right next to him before exploding against the ceiling with a loud splash. The weighty shower was abruptly removed from his body and the copy-nin stumbled forward from the sudden sense of lightness on his muscles after having resisted the water's power so strongly.

Not that he had any time to revel on that small victory, since the sploshing sounds suddenly multiplied on his right. As he turned his head towards the increasing sounds to see what was happening, he saw rapidly advancing three rows of violently exploding pillars rush towards him. Kicking his legs into action despite the stiffness that was taking them over due to the very cold shower, the ex-ANBU captain slid and scrambled on the slippery floor as the advancing pillars chased him towards the shower stall wall while he tried to stay out of reach for the freezing geysirs. The moment one sneaky, cold wave knocked his legs from under him and made him once more get an eyeful of the ceiling above his wet face, the pale man realized soon enough what was about to happen, and decided that death was too simple solution to get back at his current torturer.

The moment he sensed his slippery opponent slip, slide and fall on his pale back with a wet slap (oh, how he enjoyed the sound of that), the dark eyes flashed with a sadistic glint accompanied with a feral smirk taking over the tanned features. _Time to scream, bastard._ The series of shocked cries that followed the vicious pulses that were sent from his rapidly moving fingertips made Iruka moan in devilish delight. Although he had to bite his lips as yet another wave of delicious shivers ran over his own body when he made the pale jounin shout some more and the jounin's element abruptly lashed out at his own with a loud pang, this one almost enough to break his concentration on his element. As the following, way louder howl resonated from the walls around him and the ache in his pants gave a responding throb, Iruka remembered their last discussion with their Hokage, especially one specific fragment on the speculations the woman had presented them with.

_"- - it might also be a personally projected reaction between individuals."_

Pushing his focus away from the arousal that was doing horrible things at his boxers by the time the lightning user's sharply striking element had collided with his own for the third time in a row, the sizzling sensei took a better position against the door and then abruptly slid his hands to a one side of the dampened wood.

He could get back to that certain topic later.

Suddenly the water pillars were gone and Kakashi hissed in pain as he stumbled, fell and then staggered back up on his shaky legs, the pale body having been hit more than just a few times with very accurate blows by the violent gushes of water and, to his terrifying discovery, causing his own element to electrify himself in the heat of the battle. Heaving for air, the jounin leaned one shaky arm against the stall's wall and hung his head in exhaustion, an army of bright blue dots dancing in his field of vision. He should have known that the monster of a sensei had something planned in that demonic mind as nothing major had happened between them during the day, unless one counted the verbal brawl they had had that morning. Then, a sight of rapidly moving water on the floor caught his attention, and as a proud example of his notoriously curious rank, without giving it a second thought in his already hazy mind, the jounin turned to follow where the water was suddenly disappearing.

When he found out the roaring reason, it was already too late to dodge. _Oh __**hell**__ no-!_

"_HAAH!_" The loud battle cry left Iruka's mouth as he swung his hands in wide curve across the door, only to hear his victim's equally loud yell inside the bathroom before the walls and the foundation of the the house shook as the tsunami he had managed to create by gathering all of the excessive water from the now flooded space hit the bathroom wall and nailed one jounin on its way. With a victorious smirk on the dry, sun-kissed lips, Iruka's body slumped against the door and beside seeing that he had managed to wet the doors to their bathroom with his shaking hands, he also noticed the drops of sweat that were on their joyful way of creating a hefty puddle under his trembling feet. The maneuver was clearly taking its toll on him, which he understood when he felt his throat to be dry and hoarse as sand paper. He would need some hydration soon, otherwise he was sure to collapse.

But damn he felt good.

After recovering from the disaster of a massage, he had spent some good hours of the night trying to figure out just how it would be the best to use his rebellious element for his advantage, and gathering all the information he had gained from the previous escapades had given him a few ideas worth trying. A strong throb in his pants snatched his attention away from the mauled shinobi in their bathroom and made his control on the shower's water slack for a fleeting second.

A bad mistake.

As soon as the chuunin noticed his counterpart move rapidly towards the doors behind which he was located, the wooden barriers were pulled wide open and before he could move even a third of an inch to escape, Iruka felt a strict grip take a good hold on his wet top and yank him inside the other room, the pull strong enough for sending him to slide on his side along the wet floor. Pale fingers that soon took a firm hold on his chin made his heart stop for a beat as the first wave of electricity hit his veins, and as he was forced to follow the tight grip to look up at the masked man who was currently leaning over him, a wave of heated tremors traveled down his body and his pulse sped up as a minor sidenote announced itself to his consciousness.

He was seeing more than just a gray eye.

Way more except for the man's lower face that was covered with a hastily wrapped towel, that is.

And far too close for having anything to do with the word 'chaste'.

He had already seen the other man's body during their showers, but only from the back and even then mainly just the upper part due to them being polite enough to use towels. But now that his eyes were forced to take in the fine specimen of male anatomy that was openly displayed before his eyes, he couldn't help his mind from categorizing the definitions that suddenly flooded his head with academic precision. The pale body was lean, well-trained and mouth-watering attractive on every imaginable scale the teacher could think of. Then again, the jounin's body was also bruised, exhausted, trembling with cold and downright ready to go on a rampage and inflict fatal damage on anything that happened to cross its raging path. Which just happened to be the one unfortunate academy teacher who was fighting a losing battle against his libido that did its best to convince him to get a better look at one specific and not so little detail on the pale man's physique that teased him in his peripheral vision.

Brilliant.

"Maa, Iruka-sensei, I'm sure someone must have warned you about the dangers of harassing naked people in the shower." The strike of thunder was clear in the deep voice that was slightly muffled due to the thoroughly wet towel covering the mouth, and it didn't take long for Iruka's ears to pick up the ominous buzz that was already getting louder with every passing breath between them. The flush of heat hit his cheeks, and he could feel his nether regions snap into wanton attention as the first and more pronounced pinch of electricity teased his inner thighs.

Suddenly, somewhere behind the murderous copy-nin's back and behind the closed door that led to the corridor, a shift in the air made them both still on the spot. Iruka could feel the pale fingers tighten their hold on his chin as a flash of frustrated indecision passed the piercing, gray orb.

"Sempai? Umino-san?"

The ANBU.

Iruka swore he would attack the man in the near future if this kept on happening.

The silver-haired, currently soaked and well-chilled jounin shifted the hold he had on the chuunin and before he knew it, Iruka was promptly pulled back up on his trembling feet and then unceremoniously pushed out from the bathroom to face the bewildered other jounin who was standing in the dim-lit space that led to their kitchen.

With a pristine white pillow in the armored hands.

Iruka heard the door slide shut behind his back and the shower turn back on, but as he realized how he himself looked like at that moment, the relief of avoiding the electric shock was short-lived. He was dripping wet from head to toes, there were imprints of strong fingers still left on his jaw, he was sure to still sport a very vivid blush on his cheekbones, and according to the heat still lingering in his loins, his arousal was quite lively underneath his now wet slacks that clung to his skin and were udoubtedly leaving very little left for the imagination. Now, when a person gets into a situation where the only outcome will ever be the one resulting with the joys of mortifying awkwardness despite all the efforts the ones getting into the said predicament might perform, the unfortunate individual usually strives to preserve at least one solid factor to help them to get through the embarrassing events with the relative sense of dignity that is directly connected to maintaining the relative delusion of sanity.

"...Good evening, ANBU-san. May I ask what brings you here at this hour?"

For Iruka, it was his manners.

The ANBU gave his whole persona a slow look before giving an equally cautious nod as a silent greeting. Then the man lifted the pillow better in sight, clearly offering it to the teacher. It seemed that the young academy instructor wasn't the only one feeling a bit uncomfortable with the current situation they were in, despite the already numerous moments when the ANBU had seen him in less clothing than a thoroughly wet tank top and soaked black slacks. With that thought in mind, Iruka did feel his spirit lighten up a bit. As embarrassing as the interaction between him and the porcelain-masked assassin had been so far, it couldn't the man's fault to have a horribly bad sense in timing. Though for the shortest second the teacher hoped that the same quirk didn't apply in combat. Shaking off the odd thoughts from his mind, the chuunin offered the man a quick smile as he strolled past the other to make himself some calming tea and to also prepare some coffee, the bronze-skinned chuunin moving as normally as one could while wearing clothes that were glued to the skin and sporting a slowly passing erection that kept scraping against the wet fabric on each step. He really needed something to drink, and Iruka was fairly sure that a certain pale-skinned jounin was also in need of one steaming hot cup after the man had finished with his shower.

That and their mission still needed two people to complete it, and he wasn't too keen to probe on the subject of getting painfully aroused to death.

"You can go put the pillow on Kakashi-san's bed, I'm sure he knows what to do with it afterwards", the teacher turned his head to give a bit warmer grin at the ANBU who nodded and went to their bedroom, soon joining the honey-toned nin back in the kitchen after the delivered lump of feathers was plopped on his sempai's mattress. Iruka dug out his tea sieve and a pouch of oolong, and for a passing blink remembered it being the first tea the infuriating bastard had brewed for him during their stay in their current accommodation. A tiny twist in his gut made the teacher worry his lower lip as the blush arose back on his cheeks, but soon the strange feeling passed and the tea was measured in the sieve before setting to steep in the warm water.

"How's sempai treating you, sensei?" Without him even noticing it, the ANBU had managed to step very much closer to his back than the man was a second ago. The quietly presented question made his hands still on his cup, and the sounds of pouring summer rain created an intriguing noise pattern with the chugging of the hard-brewing coffee maker next to him.

Then, Iruka turned to give a look over his shoulder at the white mask peering at him. "We're doing well, against the all odds. Relatively speaking, at least." The look in the dark eyes narrowed. He didn't like the tone in the other's question.

The ANBU nodded and then turned his masked head slightly to look over his shoulder down the corridor before shifting his shadowed eyes to regard the wary sensei. "He can be a handful occasionally, but he's a good shinobi, sensei." The voice of the assassin was amused and warm, light even, but that didn't lessen the odd feeling that had started to settle in Iruka's gut. What was the man aiming for?

With a frown, the teacher turned his attention back to his cup and removed the sieve before taking a testing sip of the sweetly smelling liquid. "True. I'd say he's an excellent shinobi, ANBU-san." The man's presence hit on his body the instant he realized that there were hands resting on his both sides on the counter. He could hear the muffled sound of the masked man's breath puff against the porcelain mask, and as the rain banged even louder against their ceiling, Iruka was sure that he could sense the man sniff his skin.

"..He's also a man, sensei", said the now hushed voice right next to his ear, and to his unpleasant discovery Iruka could feel the other settle almost flush against his back. What made alarms go wild in his head wasn't exactly the man's quietly whispered words, though.

It was the very distinctly interested set of male genitalia pressing against his ass.

Forcing his surfacing reflexes to stay put, Iruka curled his fingers firmly around his tea cup, hearing the porcelain crack ever so subtly under the slowly added pressure. Not that the other seemed to take the tiny hint.

"...I ask you to step back now, ANBU-san." His whispered warning was carefully pronounced and weighed.

Not apparently paying any heed at the chuunin's threat, the man pressed him more against the counter and Iruka let out a quiet hiss as his hurting muscles were pinned against the hard surface. Luckily his own misplaced arousal had subsided already as the remnants of the stinging electricity had died away from his system, otherwise it would have been more than just a hiss escaping his mouth. While taking a deep breath, Iruka focused his glaring eyes on the yellow-tinted tea. Either the ANBU enjoyed the idea of a challenge when closing in on his targets or the man was missing a shuriken or two in his mental holster. A warm gust of breath ghosted against his neck, and for the first time in his life, the chuunin wished he had his chakra reserves so that he could take on the intrusive elite shinobi, not caring if he would go down burning.

"Are you, by any chance, taken yet..Umino-san..?"

The first crack appeared in the tea cup as Iruka felt his lungs dysfunction at the surprising yet apparent suggestion. The ANBU continued, the light voice puffing moist air against his now burning neck as it repeated the question. "Are you?"

"Nope. He isn't."

Iruka felt the ANBU's body stiffen completely against his back, and he could only stare numbly at his cup as the deep, hard voice resonated through his figure. Out of the corner of his eye, he observed how the hands trapping him against the counter twitched ever so subtly as Kakashi calmly continued to elaborate on the currently discussed matter. "Iruka-sensei isn't currently taken by anyone, kohai. Not you, not me, and I suggest that you drop that intention unless you want to see what a stray lightning bolt can do in a confined space."

Quietly, the surrounding hands retreated from the counter and after a moment's silence a pop echoed from the spot which just a second ago had a busted ANBU. Releasing the breath he had been holding, Iruka let his fingers slack around the almost shattered cup. Sensing the older man's eye stare at him behind his back didn't put him completely at ease, though.

"Are you alright, sensei?" The tone was unreadable, but the chuunin could bet that the look in the gray eye was concerned on some level.

He gave the silver-haired man a curt nod and relaxed his body with a couple of deep breaths. "That was rather...unexpected, one could say. Caught me by surprise."

A pensive hum carried through the tense ambiance as Kakashi stepped next to him to the counter. The look in the gray, narrow eye became noticeably surprised after a moment as the man noticed the bitter aroma that wafted in the air. "You made me coffee?"

For a reason he didn't feel like venturing at that particular moment, Iruka felt a hot blush take over his scarred cheeks and he gave his nose an embarrassed scratch. "Ah..well..yes. I thought you might..need it..after the shower.." He had already forgotten why it wouldn't be wise for him to stay in the same room with the eccentric lightning user due to the wooing assassins dressed in way too skin-tight spandex pants, but now that he remembered, his alarms went into a frenzy for the second time that evening. Scratch being almost molested by a horny ANBU, he would soon get tortured to a pained yet undeniebly well pleasured death by an electric current the moment the infamous ex-ANBU wanted to make him pay for his latest stunt.

The evil gleam that took over the gray eye was all the confirmation he needed for preparing himself for the jounin's undoubtedly inventive penalty that was awaiting him.

"Well, thank you for that gesture, but you still owe me a massage."

"..._What?_"

Inventive indeed.

Q

_AN: Well...stay tuned. Throw a bone or two if you feel like it, I'd be happy to chew on something right now._


	13. Day 10

_AN: Fashionably late. Been a while to post anything, and I apologise for that. Have been playing chess with the current plot, and it seems that the game won't give me any slack at the moment, but then again I always enjoy a good challenge. Therefore I hope you guys enjoy the chapter, which is mostly done in Iruka's point of view, but for valid reasons. And, as always, thank you for the lovely reviews and for keeping me closely attached to this story.  
_

_Have fun._

Day 10: Matters of importance and problematic preferences

The rain had finally stopped, and the chill morning air gathered its children to slip and slide over the still wet and dripping roof tiles on the houses of Konoha. Amidst their play, the tiny ghosts greeted the light which was tinted with silver and gave them a promise of a partially sunny day in the beginning of a warm summertime on it's passing way over the serene landscape. The difference in the temperature between the day and the past night had created a snake of fog that circled and flowed silently down the deserted streets in its slumbering grace while the peaceful silence held its breath as it suddenly heard the first sounds of awakening arising from a light gray house as it was floating by.

True to his pedantic nature, Umino Iruka had distinct preferences when it came to waking up in the mornings.

Waking up to sunlight was always the most preferred choice. If it happened during a day off, all the better.

Waking up to an alarm wasn't too bad, either. What awaited after the beep was to be dealt with only after the first cup of tea for that day, and nothing could make him discard that little heaven of his before hitting the usually very hectic and tiring day. Not even ANBU.

Waking up to a combination of an infernal hangover and vivid Naruto was never nice, but he lived.

Waking up to an unnervingly deep silence that had taken over the household he was currently forced to share with an ex-ANBU captain was never even an option on his mental list of mundane morning scenarios, and when his bleary eyes spotted the other's empty bed, his nerves were far from being sleep-induced and lax. They had called it a night shortly after the uncomfortable incident with the oddly behaving ANBU operative, and Iruka was grateful for that small morsel of mercy on Kakashi's part. Not that he got any good sleep because of the agitated body of his.

..That ANBU. With a small groan, the tan sensei turned on his back and rubbed his tired eyes before giving a brief glare towards the ceiling, the narrow eyes noticing the line of light that traveled across it. The glare turned into troubled frown, and Iruka let a small, frustrated huff leave his lips. What had the ANBU been thinking? Not much, obviously, at least not with the head the man should have been using the second Iruka had given out the first warning. A tan hand rose to wipe the stray strands of hair from the tan forehead before lowering to cover the pensive eyes, and a more distressed sigh was heard in the silent bedroom.

_"Are you, by chance, taken yet...Umino-san...?"_

The tan hand found its twin on the chuunin's bare chest and crossed paths with it as the brown-haired head tilted a bit to the side, the dark orbs thoughtful and the full lips drawn into a downcast line.

...How did the ANBU know?

He didn't exactly yell his preferences out in the open, since many parents might be more than just merely narrow-minded on those matters, and he didn't want to put his students through any more trouble than handling a kunai without accidentally disemboweling themselves (or him) was already giving them. Furthermore, he was fairly sure that there was no slot in the record sheets for pointing out the shinobi's sexuality, at least he hadn't spotted any when he had updated their shinobi register with Shizune-san. One couldn't be sure about Tsunade's ways of handling things, though. A small, dry chuckle left his mouth at the thought of poor Shizune-san being sent to gather the intel on Konoha's shinobis' bedroom activities. Genma and others would have put the kunoichi through hell and more if she had ever made the mistake on asking them about that. She had already looked ready to pass out while they had talked about their misbehaving elements with the Hokage. The chuckling mouth fell back into frown on that passing idea.

Could that have given him away?

...Then again, the state he had been in when he was shoved out of the bathroom where the other male of their team was unmistakably showering could have clued even Naruto that perhaps Iruka wasn't one meant for the ladies' entertainment.

If given any better thought, his pheromones could have easily been smelled a mile away at that particular moment.

The tan hands found themselves back on the sun-kissed face, and Iruka took in a deep breath through his nose as he pressed the cool palms against his forehead. He really needed to gather his shit now. He couldn't risk to jeopardize their mission with his intimate problems, at least not with adding any more to the already growing list of things gone awry, starting with his ass of an element. Moreover he had to avoid pulling Kakashi into this mess, although if he didn't know better, one could have thought that the man was more than putting an effort on keeping him on the edge and the things becoming more than bizarre between them.

Namely, what the masked jounin had asked as the compensation for literally saving his ass wasn't exactly keeping things straight on any scale considering their mission.

His karma was apparently having a blast in a gangbang with his sins somewhere.

Then, slowly, the thought of the other man made the chuunin's lips pull themselves into a small, almost rueful smile and the dark eyes gave the ceiling above him a slightly sorrowful look.

...It...had been a while for him...neh.

Then a flicker of shadow caught his attention, and being alerted back to present from his swirling thoughts, the young sensei whipped his head to the side on his pillow to observe the double doors that led to their training room, the wooden barriers between the two rooms being left slightly ajar and therefore permitting the morning light into the otherwise rather dark bedroom. Slowly and carefully, while ignoring the dull pain that became noticeable on his sides, shoulders, upper back and thighs, Iruka peeled the covers off of him and rose to sit on his futon, the cinnamon-colored ears listening intensely to the sounds around him. The rain had stopped during the night, and both the narrow ray of light as well the shushed ambiance that surrounded him indicated it to be rather early still. Approximately six-thirty, if the intensity of the light was anything to go by.

Now what did a jounin with a lethargic reputation do at that hour?

As an afterthought, the dark eyes searched out the pile of the garishly colored perverted books of the silver-haired man, and after comparing the counted quantity with the known figures in his mind, the scarred cheeks lost some of their sunny color as the numbers didn't match.

_Ah hell no._

To a man who had been said to have quite a wild imagination, the hypothesis he now faced could have been described more accurately with the words 'downright disturbing and deeply traumatizing for a lesser shinobi'.

The flickering motion happened again, and as the awakened curiosity took the best of the rising hysterics, Iruka silently crept on his knees and then ever so nimbly rose to his feet, the shapely legs carrying the boxer-clad chuunin to the doors without making a sound. As he held his breath, the teacher leaned closer to the gap, the dark eye peering through the narrow slit in order to see what it was that had awoken him from the light sleep he had been enjoying after several hours of tossing and turning on his mattress.

He could only see the spacious training room that bathed in the cold morning light, and not a sound was caught by his ears. A small frown started to form on the tan face, as Iruka was sure that he had sensed there to be someone, and furthermore his eyes rarely played tricks on him. Then his alerted senses spotted it.

A hint of movement traveled through the air.

He didn't see it, but the sound of silent feet landing on the woven mats was clear indication enough. The dark eyes squinted more to catch the movement, and even though somewhere in the back of his head he knew it to be actually more than just silly to spy on one's mission partner, moreover a nin with far more field experience than the sensei could ever gather even if he had worked sixty years after his death, the thrill of witnessing something private concerning Hatake Kakashi was sufficient to root him on the spot.

Even the reminding thought of one missing porn book didn't lessen his desire to peek a bit more, although he could feel his cheeks burn a bit on the possibility of seeing way more and something very different than he had intended.

Then again, if the prick was obnoxious enough to jerk off in their training grounds, he was more than justified to catch the man cum-handed and give him a taste of his knuckles. Their matches were challenging enough without him slipping on something that certainly didn't have its place in their current assignment. At least not in that room and moreover wasted on some mere tatami mats. The passing odd thought made his pulse beat a bit faster and he had to resist the urge to bang his head against the door in order to discard the uninvited idea.

This wasn't the time nor place.

A sudden series of silent steps swishing against the matted floor made the dark eyes focus back to the gap. To his disappointment, he still didn't see enough. Damn. He had to open the gap a bit...but that would risk Kakashi to spot him. The sound of the movement turned into more fluid thumps of feet falling on the floor, and if he strained his hearing a bit, he could pick up the pattern of the controlled breathing from the direction of the rhythmically falling steps. The teacher hesitated between his now raging curiosity and the sense of propriety between colleagues, the former gaining more points with every missed sound made by the pale body behind the wooden doors. Maybe if he could shift to look from the other side of the gap...silent like a falling feather, the sensei shifted his body to the other side and at the same time, ever so subtly, pushed the other door just half and inch more open in order to gain a better view to the room, his interest having turned into outright want to see what the hell the other man was up to while Iruka should have been sleeping. Once more, the dark eye peered through the now more opened gap between the double doors, and Iruka focused his gaze in the other room.

What he saw made his salivation triple.

A thin sheet of sweat glistened on the pale, broad and perfectly sculpted back and shoulders as they twisted and turned while the pale, diligently trained arms punched the air and wove their way through the imaginary opponents. The lean legs and the firm buttocks showed their true shapes in the strong contrast of cold light against the dark fabric as the agile limbs traced their patterns on the floor with deadly ease when one of the most feared jounin's performed what seemed to be his own, modified version of the regular morning exercises designed for Konoha's shinobi. The dark eye was narrow and focused over the dark mask, and Iruka could bet that he saw the hidden lips being parted for breath under the fabric as a sliver of light traveled across the jounin's face.

The man before Iruka's wide, staring eyes was a well-built, divinely packed and tightly wrapped package of one fabulously proportioned copy-nin, and Iruka had to bite his lip as he felt his body respond to the visual stimulus he found himself enjoying. The jounin was sheer skill and sexual attraction in one body, which was something the sensei had gotten the questionably chance to confirm when he had had his first admittedly good and literally closer look at the naked bastard during the last night's shower showdown.

In a blink, Iruka had his back pressed against the door, a hand was lifted to his mouth to keep him silent and his lungs worked overtime in order to prevent him from hyperventilating. As the things stood, they had already their hands full with this research without Iruka starting to develop any strange desires towards his arrogant mission partner.

That resolve didn't lessen the tightness in his black boxers, though, and the tan jaw tightened as the chuunin grit his teeth together to hold in a rising moan that was stalking its opportunity to crawl out of his throat.

_Be careful now, don't let it take over you-_

As an opposing argument against his logic, the tan hips pressed more firmly against the wooden door, and the sense of weight settling against his buttocks made him to bite his palm in order to keep silent as the feeling of something solid against his body made his senses burn with a blue flame. With a shaky breath, the chuunin forced his legs to move and stepped away from the enticing hard surface, his head swimming with a mixture of distant memories and suddenly surfacing desires. Only one thing that kept him from striding into the training room and claiming the silver-haired man as his own was the same thought he had had running in his head like a mantra after the ANBU had vanished and he could have felt the intense gaze of the older man on his restless body.  
_  
The shinobi is as strong as his will. You have a will of fire. A will of __**fire**__, Iruka, with an iron control to boot._

_Fire and iron._

_Fire and iron._

Unconsciously, the other tan hand rose to rub the spot where he once had had an imprint of a set of teeth, the once healed mark giving a small throb at the memory and thus causing a shudder to travel down the chuunin's spine, while the other hand was removed from the trembling lips and it wiped the now sweating face and throat as Iruka balanced his breathing and willed the burning ache away from his hips with great difficulty.

What he needed was his tea.

Preferably iced.

Q

Iruka took a deep breath through his nose and resisted the urge to rip the gray-colored, small machine into rather large pieces. Who in their right mind invents a machine that extracts the drink in mere tiny drops? The merry concert consisting of dripping, chugging, gurgling and fizzing was driving him insane. After a final glare towards the innocently percolating coffee maker that was clearly enjoying itself more than was written in its manual, the teacher reached for his tea box, and with practiced efficiency the deft fingers searched out the tea he needed and put the right amount of dry leaves into the prepared sieve, the tiny metal net then being fluidly dipped into the perfectly tempered water for a steep.

A strict look was passed towards the chugging machine next to him, and as if sensing the looming danger, the coffee maker went silent. As a result a bright, bit smug chuckle escaped the sun-kissed lips while the tan hands reached for a bunch of apricots. Apparently he still had what it took to silence the troublemakers.

The rhythmical chopping echoed from the kitchen walls as the tiny orange fruits met their deaths in the hands of the well-trained younger nin, the slices of fish and bread already waiting on their own plates on the tray. Being dressed up on his regular black top and slacks and after having tamed the tangled hair into a pointy ponytail, the teacher felt his mood having slightly improved from what it was when he had woken up. The laundry would still need their attention, since they had forgotten to take care of that during the couple of days with more or less...pressing matters at hand. The apricots were dropped from the chopping board on the plate next to the chopped pears and melons, and to his pleasure he had even found some figs from the far corner in one cupboard. The sweet scent of his morning oolong gradually managed to put his mind at ease, and the bright sunlight that teased him from the narrow window next to the backyard's door made his whole being itch on hitting the terrace for sunny breakfast.

All in all, he could happily proclaim to be a content little chuunin with all of the life's priorities put back to their rightful places.

A calm hum escaped the full-lipped mouth as the teacher poured the jounin's coffee in the man's mug and put it on the tray next to his tea. Then, as the tan hands took hold on the heap of a wholesome breakfast, the dark ears listened carefully in search for the other's location.

The man was still in the training room.

The teacher set towards the door leading to the wooden terrace at the backyard and managed to maneuver the door open with his legs and hip. The sunlight hitting his eyes with full force and the scent of fresh air caressing his nose made the small smile widen on his face, since after so many days of rain it was a delight for him to see something else than grayness and wetness in the surrounding scenery. The doors to the training room were left wide open, as it had formed into a habit for them after a while, and the closer he slank on the balls of his feet, the more he could hear the noises of the other man's movements echoing in the spacious the room. The moment he reached the edge of the door, the chuunin took in a calm breath.

"Fire and iron", the encouraging whisper was silently mouthed and Iruka stepped in sight to the opened doors while automatically casting a beaming look inside the room accompanied with the sunniest smile he ever could muster. Naruto did take after his sensei on some matters, after all. "Good morning, Kakashi-san." Despite the steel-hard grip he had on his present demeanor, his voice sounded strange in his own ears, and he was grateful of having his hands occupied and therefore making it more challenging to slap himself. He was _not_ feeling giddy.

"Ah. Good morning, sensei." The second he had heard the sensei's greeting, Kakashi had stopped in the middle of a sharp punch meant to split an opponent's face in half and had turned his head in the other's direction to give a brightly smiling nod on his behalf.

The sleeveless, dark singlet covering the pale body.

If anyone had as much as even dared to imply that Iruka felt a bit disappointed at the current view he was presented with, they would soon have ended up with ignited gunpowder in uncomfortable places. Although the silver-haired nin didn't seem to pay attention to the slightly fallen smile on the other's face since he had spotted what the tan man was carrying, more precisely the familiar mug with enticing dark liquid in it. "Coffee?"

The question appeared to pull the oddly looking chuunin back to present. "Oh, yes, it is. Though I didn't mean to interrupt you, whatever it was that you were doing, Kakashi-san. Apologies. I'll go to the terrace if you need to finish up." With that the teacher gave a small bow. At least he still had his manners to back him up if everything else failed. The older man turned fully to face him and waved his hand nonchalantly, the mismatched eyes turning into one more smile on the masked face and thus missing the keen glance his bare biceps were given.

"Maa, I was done here anyway, plus I can't let the coffee go to waste, neh? Especially if it's made by you, sensei", the teasing wink he gave to the chuunin made a sly smirk creep on Kakashi's hidden lips as he noticed the slightly wary look creep in the younger man's dark eyes. Thus he couldn't help but give an even more evil smile as he spotted the opportunity to tease the tan man, which was more than justified in his opinion. His ass felt still a bit chilly after the last night's cold shower. "Unless of course you wish to join me. Perhaps I could show you a couple of cool moves I've come up with for using only the lower body."

If not for the wry smile that pulled on the cinnamon-colored lips, Kakashi could have bet to have his ass feeling more than chilled after a beat if the briefly passing, intense glint in the sensei's eyes was any indication.

"Keep your pants on, pervert." With those words the smirking chuunin calmly turned his back to the sweaty jounin and sat down on the terrace, the nimble fingers setting the tray down next to the man and picking up the steaming tea. "If you wish to have breakfast, then I suggest you put that lazy ass into action and dig up our laundry for washing. I'm out of fresh clothes and I'm pretty sure your situation isn't peachy either, if the current reek is anything to go by." The chuunin gave the masked man a sharp, teasing look over his shoulder as an emphasis on the last words.

The sly rise of the silvery eyebrow was not the reaction Iruka had wished for, though. "Do you want to come and scrub me squeaky clean as well in case I forget to wash my hands?"

"It's hard to appreciate clean clothes if one doesn't have the hands to pull them on, Kakashi-san."

Unlike his kohai, Kakashi knew when he was given a valid warning.

Q

"How do you do it?"

"Hmm?" Iruka lifted his eyes from the fish sandwich and turned to give the jounin next to him a wondering look. "Do what?"

"Make the aftertaste so full." The jounin swirled what was already his third cup of coffee and gave the beverage a pensive, almost suspicious look over the dark mask. "One could think that you drink tea just to hold up the appearances. You're full of surprises, sensei."

A snort met the amused pondering, and Kakashi saw the teacher shook his head with a wide grin on his face while the smiling eyes cast a playful look at the jounin's direction. "Well, I've never met a man so diligent in making tea if not for being a teaholic himself, so I guess we're even. One could think that you're trying to seduce me, Kakashi-san." The grin took a turn into more feral one, and for the briefest moment Kakashi found himself wondering if Iruka's canines had always been so sharp.

"Maa, you certainly don't seem like an easy prey should anyone try that, if the incident with Shiranui was any indication." Kakashi chuckled and was pleased at the loud bark of laughter heard from the other's direction, since he had been expecting a fist. "Even the ANBU is sure to remember that from now on." The warm laughter died and for a passing moment, an awkward silence took over the two men on the sunny terrace as soon as the words were said, and Kakashi smothered an annoyed groan at his slip. He had meant to tease the prudish man later with the note, true, but now as he felt the stretching silence gain some weight, yawn and fall in content sleep right between them, he wasn't so sure if that was all there was to it. Then there was also the more interesting question of how the sensei had taken what had happened the previous night. The jounin watched as the brown, narrowed eyes darkened ever so slightly at the mention of the masked kohai, and when the keen look turned into more unreadable one, as an afterthought Kakashi's muscles set themselves ready to bolt should the now seemingly more agitated man decide to lunge himself at the jounin.

Then, the chuunin's mouth twisted into a lopsided smirk and the teacher sipped his tea while the brown eyes turned to look elsewhere over the slowly drying wet grass that shimmered in the summery light. "..Good to know, Kakashi-san."

As the ambiance slipped back in being more comfortable among them and they concentrated on their breakfast, Iruka couldn't help but sneak a glance at the silver-haired man who was munching on a bite underneath the dark mask, the mismatched eyes closed against the bright light and the man's freshly showered body slouched at ease, at least on the surface. The dark eyes turned back on the fourth cup of yellow oolong that the tan hands cradled on his lap, and as the sliver of a strange sensation traveled through his system, the teacher had to take a long sip in order to swallow down the surfacing odd feeling with the sweet tea, the sun feeling a tad bit warmer against his skin as the last, sweet drops of the slightly chilled drink lingered on his tongue.

_Fire and iron._

Q

Iruka felt his calves wail as he spun and dashed away from the surprising counterattack the other had managed to pull at his wide swing, not having anticipated the jounin to rely so readily on the long legs to drive his opponent away from close range. The jounin balanced himself on one leg, then landed down the second leg as well, shifted his weight more solidly against the matted floor and leaped after the tan teacher, the silver bell giving a sharp chime on the sudden turns the pale shinobi made during his pursuit after the target, the racing feet of the men thumping against the fibers of the woven mats as they circled each other, their fingers ready to catch the glinting goal when the most suitable opening presented itself. The sun crept over the abandoned breakfast tray and reached the matching pair in the now more illuminated training room, the rays of light dancing on the dark clothing and the contours of two well-shaped bodies hidden underneath them, it catching eagerly on the drops of sweat on both the tanned and pale skin and making them gleam like pearls on the quickly moving nins.

He could see the other's plan the moment the jounin's left leg landed on the floor, and a smirk splayed itself on the tan face. The chuunin plunged down to the side away from the advancing assault of a wide grab, one of the strong hands flexing beneath himself as the other supported his balance against the floor mat as he felt his body roll over its axle and repeating it a few times, the maneuver increasing the distance between him and the sneaky jounin.

The warning shout came too late for him, though, as his nose suddenly collided with a rather solid obstacle that stopped his momentum quite efficiently, hence making him fall backwards from the force of impact the moment his moving energy took one-hundred-an-eighty on him and with most of his thoughts being suddenly concentrated on the sharp wave of fresh pain on his now maimed nose.

Well that was embarrassing.

Except before he fell completely on his back on the floor, a pair of firm arms took a hold of him and yanked him up against whoever it was that was unfortunate enough to collide on hip-level with his swift rolling tactic. Knowing that not even Kakashi didn't have a mind suicidal enough to teleport himself to the other side of the room just for the hell of it since neither of them had enough chakra to even dare to consider that move, Iruka, with his healing chakra already tending his nose to lessen the excruciating pain it was effectively emitting, quickly took in the facts that suddenly made his neck prickle.

He had been acquainted with those arms and the armored body before.

"Good morning, sensei. That was a nasty bump. Isn't a shinobi supposed to remember to keep their eyes always open in the battle?" A mellow, amused voice filtered through the porcelain mask next to his ear.

The instant after the words spoken by the ANBU had wafted against his skin, the arms holding Iruka became intrusive on his quickly tensing body, and with the throbbing nasal pain promptly forgotten, the teacher quickly removed the armored hands off of him and stepped a few feet away from the masked assassin, in his haste missing the slow, subtle way Kakashi ambled towards them from his side of the training room, the narrow eye set in a bored yet stern look at the abruptly appeared ANBU. As his upbringing had it, Iruka, against his initial urge, held his curling fists down despite the fact that the elite nin's hands had clearly itched for more than just a steadying hold on his body.

One did not simply slap an ANBU and walk away from it on their own feet.

"It does look like the sensei's nose could disagree on the relevancy of that sentence, since the way I saw it it wasn't his to know that he might have a potential shinobi collision in his hands, don't you think?" The deep, calm voice inquired from Iruka's other side, and the sensei turned to give a slightly wary look at the silver-haired nin who had silently appeared beside him. Something was off in the air around the older shinobi, and as the beep of the alarm pierced the air, the timid silence bared its fangs to the three men. Kakashi was the first to break the heavy ambiance, the gray eye narrowing a fraction at the ANBU who gave nothing away with his almost relaxed posture as the kohai answered his former captain's strict look. "Am I just old-fashioned or isn't interrupting a match considered as bad manners nowadays, kohai?"

"Not if you were given the order to, brat."

Both Kakashi and Iruka spun around to meet the amber eyes of Tsunade who was observing them with a small purse of her lips, the inhumanly strong arms crossed under the ample cleavage. The Hokage gave a sharp look at them both and then nudged her head at her masked guard behind the jounin's and the chuunin's backs. "Make us something to drink, will you."

Q

The manicured fingers traced the recently healed nasal area and the amber eyes scanned through the map of bruises on the teacher's body. "How are we doing over here, Iruka-kun?"

"Generally fine, Hokage-sama. Thank you", Iruka said and gave a tentative rub at the scar on his nose after the fair-haired medic had scooted back to her tea. To his relief, no stinging pain was detected. Sneezing was utterly horrifying when dealing with an injured nose.

"We're progressing, Tsunade-sama", Kakashi said with a curt nod and gave the pensive chuunin who poked his nose with great interest a brief, amused glance.

A groomed eyebrow was cocked at that answer. "Care to report a bit more, Hatake?"

Kakashi gave a small shrug, but nevertheless, feeling the interested gaze of the younger man on him did make him more aware of his body language. "Iruka-sensei has improved with his skills as a chuunin. His stamina has increased a notch and currently I find him a very resourceful opponent. He manages to land hits more than he was able at the beginning of this mission and does value the given advices in order to polish his moves." The gray eye turned to give a short smile at the now seemingly speechless teacher as the infamous Hound went for his prize. "Despite not sensing any particular changes in my own performance, I have gotten a chance to hone my own combat tactics. Iruka-sensei seems to be an appraised teacher for more than just taming Naruto into obedience."

And there was the heat on the horizontal scar that made his mornings.

"Is that so?" Tsunade's tone was impressed, but Kakashi did notice the surprising lack of surprise in the Hokage's words. Then the painted lips turned into a sunny smile as their leader turned her focus on the tanned sensei who currently pondered on life and its twist by staring at his tea leaves. "Do you wish to add anything on Hatake's report, Iruka-kun?"

In Iruka's silent opinion, the woman's voice was sweet as honey and thrice as stingy as the bees that had made it. In any case, he had a motherly interrogating question to answer, and with a quick glance at the jounin on his side, the teacher nodded his head. "Kakashi-san has been good both as a training partner and as a mentor for what it comes to developing my fighting skills. I have noticed that some areas, especially the ones that need speed and physical strength, have improved on much firmer ground if compared to the situation when we trained only occasionally." He could sense the gray eye on him as he continued, and did his best to concentrate on the feeling of cool porcelain under his fingers. "As for Kakashi-san's own skills, I can't form any coherent picture on that since he has never used his whole arsenal during our sessions. On the more personal level, we have gotten better acquainted, which has undoubtedly given its impact on our mission as I have gotten the privilege to be considered as a compatible comrade to him." A teasing smirk tugged at his lips. " He's still a prick, though." Suddenly an abrupt gurgling chortle left the masked nin, a sound which resembled choking on one's coffee when suppressing a surprised laughter. When he turned to meet the gray eye, he was pleased to find it staring right back with an air of hilarity around the jounin rather than the man's ambiance being tainted with the earlier odd and dark intent.

Even Tsunade gave a snort at that entertaining jab. "Well, as I see that our sensei can still crack up a joke at our copy-nin's expense and neither is on the verge of committing any capital crimes, may it be safe for me to assume that you've gotten your elements back into control?"

She someday had to mention to Iruka that the pale colors really didn't suit him.

"...They have acted, Hokage-sama", came the calm reply from Kakashi's side, and for a moment Tsunade was almost sure that she saw a look of hesitation pass the jounin's gray eye, not to mention noticing the sharp glare that was sent at the masked man's direction from the teacher's side. This was interesting.

The painted lips twisted into more official frown as the leading medic crossed her hands over her bosom. "Acted exactly on what level, Hatake?"

The darkened scowl that was thrown at Kakashi from the chuunin's direction made the darkly clothed jaw snap shut before even a syllable was mulled on the jounin's tongue. If the teacher wished to take the lead, he wasn't against it. After all, now it wasn't his ass that would be the first getting roasted on low heat if Tsunade decided to go berserk on them.

"We have gotten...reactions, Hokage-sama", continued the rich baritone of the cinnamon-colored man, and as Kakashi risked a glance at the younger nin, he became fairly aware that it might not be even Tsunade who would snap first, and that it was more than relevant for him to count his steps to the nearest exit should the situation take a turn for worse. More precicely, the dark eyes were beyond discomfort and already reaching for the level of mayhem should their leader press any more on the matter.

As the things stood and her physical superiority allowed, she pressed. "If it's your element that 's causing problems, I think it's in everybody's best interest that you spill out whatever it is that's making your tongue to curl into itself, Iruka-sensei." The tone that left the woman's pursed lips matched the look in Iruka's eyes, and for a moment both Kakashi and the kohai who stood behind Tsunade's back were doubting if it really was ANBU and Root that were the ones to be feared after all.

Having its endless curiosity piqued, the silence scooted a bit closer to the four persons from its perch on the high fence wall, it allowing the morning noises tag along if they promised to behave, and waited patiently as Iruka took a slow sip of his tea and then turned to give a small look at Kakashi, the men undoubtedly debating over how to approach the subject.

To Kakashi's surprise, bluntness became a new feature to add on his list about the tanned sensei.

"The elements have clashed when either of us has been under emotional stress, and as they have mixed, I have gotten physiological reactions, their nature having already been established in our previous discussion. Moreover Kakashi-san has electrified himself a couple of times, I think."

The gray eye gave small twitch on that painful memory, and Kakashi couldn't hold his tongue on that matter. He still had his scores to be settled with the crafty chuunin, never mind that he had been impressed with the man's moves after he had cleared his spinning head and had had time to analyze what the hell it was that had happened to him in those agonizing minutes. "And whose fault was that, sensei?" As the bronze-skinned man turned his icy attention towards him, Kakashi figured that on a hot day it might not be so bad to have his coffee a bit more chilled.

"You're in no position to bark about what was only justifiably deserved, asshole", answered the chuunin's calm voice while the darkly scowling eyes were leaving no room for redeeming his ego on the discussed issue.

"Alright, break it up you two." The annoyed bark made them both snap their mouths shut and turn from their thundering staring contest towards their leader, moreover at the exasperated sigh that left her lips as a slender hand rose to rub her temple. These two would be the death of her someday. As Iruka opened his mouth to speak, a sharp snap on her fingers made the man think twice. "Just shut it for now. Any more words from either of you and I would need to take a sedative in order not to mangle your asses into hospital." Then the perceptive eyes observed keenly the two nins before her. "What kind of situations are we talking about here?"

She could almost _taste_ the calm before storm as the men exchanged menacing glares. The second the sensei's full-lipped mouth opened, she knew she'd get more than an earful on the probed subject. Oh sweet joy.

"The ass groped me." The blonde eyebrows rose up at that.

"You slapped me first." The eye-roll was missed by both of her subordinates.

"You harassed me twice." A sliver of intrigued curiosity passed the Hokage's face.

"You maimed me with a shower." A poorly stifled snort was heard from behind her back.

"And I will do it again if you ever do those things to me ever again, pervert-" She couldn't help herself any longer.

"Considering the fact that the brat's lightning has obviously struck more than once in your pants and seeing the way you are going on about it I must say I'm surprised to discover that you haven't already worked through every hard surface there is in this house, Iruka-kun."

"_HOKAGE-SAMA!_"

"I'm joking, joking!" Tsunade laughed and waved her hand teasingly at the now furiously blushing chuunin in a way that reminded all of them about an other sannin who was currently out of the village. To her smugly gleeful note, even Kakashi seemed a bit stricken at her words. It seemed that this was getting more than just a peculiar mission in her betting books. The way the ANBU tensed in mid-snort behind her back when Kakashi cast the man a sharp, quick look was registered as a slightly odd sidenote in them, but she let the detail be for now.

They had more acute matters at hand to concentrate on.

"Let's change the outlines for this mission a bit." The two men saw the change in the look she was giving them, the earlier, playful gaze turning into more serious one as the woman clearly counted her next words and the possible consequences they may cause. The amber eyes gave a sharp look at Kakashi, who by the unwritten protocol was closest to being the mission leader in their two-man cell. "Beside still concentrating on improving yourselves as you have so far, I want you to focus more proactively on your elements as well. Not by abusing them", on that she pointed a sharp fingernail on both of her subordinates and for a moment she thought she heard the air crack between them as they shared a challenging look, "but doing the things the way you usually would and then reflecting and repeating immediately the situation where your elemental bases act strangely or cause something to happen. We need to find out the trigger, because labeling it under 'emotional stress' gives us too wide range to work with. I'll look into your latest samples to see if there's anything to help us out, since your earliest ones didn't show anything out of ordinary as they were taken before this all happened, but right now you're the most valid walking samples to figure out how those rebellious elements function in different settings, especially during the sparring sessions." The sun tickled her cheeks, and Tsunade turned her face towards the sunny yard that was expanding in front of the terrace, the now dried, muddy lines still crossing it as a reminder of a fierce match once fought on that particular soil. "The phenomenon is interesting to me as a shinobi as well, since none of us seem to have experienced anything alike before. Understanding our elements could give more valuable clues for polishing up the current training curriculum, but problems were to arise if they activate only under certain circumstances. Catch my drift, sensei?" The piercing look was turned at her most trustworthy chuunin who seemed to have already caught on her thinking if the firm line crossing the bronze-skinned features was anything to go by.

A mere nod was all the confirmation she needed even before Iruka continued her assumption. "That sounds like a potential dilemma, Tsunade-sama. It doesn't benefit anyone to get emotional in a battle situation, so if losing the calm mind is the key to unleash the elements, they could become dangerous not only for the target but the users themselves." Hearing a pensive hum from Kakashi's side made him give an exasperated sigh. What now?

"True, sensei, but so does any jutsu work as a double-edged sword in every combat where they are used", stated the deep voice of the older nin, and Iruka leveled the silver-haired man with a flat look, him knowing very well that the slightly offensive thought that rang in his mind didn't go unnoticed by the other man if the tiny twitch of the gray eye over the dark mask was giving any hints on that.

_Well thank you, Sharingan-no-Obvious._

His mouth, to their surprise, decided to go for diplomacy. "Of course, Kakashi-san, but the question between an element and a jutsu is not about its effectiveness but in the problem of control", Iruka argued, and took a sip of his tea to discard the oddly stirring excitement that the debate was bringing up within him. The hesitant sense of ease he felt between him and the older man was something he had already thought to have been lost after the incidents they've had encountered so far, and judging from the look the silver-haired nin gave him, he hadn't been the only one struggling with the particular thought.

"Maa, you did seem able to control your attack quite well yesterday, sensei", the pale-skinned man mused with a more teasing voice.

The unfair blow made Iruka narrow his gaze at the verbal lashing he was now facing, his temper flaring lightly under the restraints of his iron will. "You only saw one side of it, Kakashi-san, and I'm fairly confident in assuming that to be the case with you as well." All other three residents could sense the change that took over Iruka as he slipped into his teaching mode. "An element is not something one learns by hand signs but something that is already coded within a shinobi's system. It's designed for enhancing the skills and combat performance, and therefore I would think twice to use something that I have grown with rather than gotten trained into, since it can be easily connected to some of my other personal traits such as fear, anger, love or arrogance. It could be a gamble with too much at stake, since there's no saying that it wouldn't turn against its user at some point if the goals and the fundamental being of the shinobi conflicts. We control the jutsu, at least in theory, but the element controls the body that controls the jutsu. There can be no counter-control in this case, in other words the fire can't be done if the element is earth. If the element isn't cooperative and one doesn't know how to use it to the best advantage, the shinobi is at loss and we all know the final result when that happens."

The silence that fell over the four occupants on the terrace was long and spoke volumes when the three shinobis pondered on what the chuunin had said, both the ANBU and the Hokage keeping their eyes on the pensive academy teacher.

Kakashi, on the other hand, was keeping his eye on an other shinobi.

"...That's settled, then." As all three men turned their attention at her, Tsunade gulped down the rest of her already cold tea and stood up. Then the medic turned to nod at the ANBU who was already waiting for her orders. "Take their samples and leave the new sample box on the counter. Deliver them to Shizune at the Hokage Tower and say that I'll accompany her shortly." With a curt nod, the ANBU left to the kitchen and then Tsunade gave a smile at the two men who had already stood up to hear her final instructions for their mission. "You really have a resourceful mission partner, brat." She couldn't help but smile at the slightly awkward look that crossed Iruka's face, moreover when Kakashi nodded and gave the sensei a brightly smiling look which made the man look away with a sliver of red hue on the scarred features. "Continue where you were left off and report again should anything out of the ordinary happen. This research starts to get more twists than was planned, but if all goes well then I say that I'm very happy that you decided to go with my request. In the meantime, don't kill each other while at it." A ring of laughter could be heard in her last words before her hands went through the signs for the needed jutsu. "And brat, please take a shower. You could be smelled two miles away."

And with that, the chuunin and jounin were left behind to watch the dissolving smoke from her elegant disappearance.

"...It's the clothes."

The bright laughter of one chuunin rang along the barriers into the clear sky.

Q

"...Now, now, there's no need to use so crude words...I call it making the game more interesting. There's nothing to worry if you play nicely along, sensei."

The tanned body bristled visibly on the words, and Iruka took quiet, slow and deadly precise steps towards his opponent, the narrow hips swaying on his way while the fire turned up the heat in the deep brown eyes as they followed the pale hands that played with their prized prey. "Oh, I would worry if I were you, since if that box gets even a speck of dust on it I'm going to rip you several new ones, Kakashi-san."

The slender, silvery eyebrow was cocked at that choice of words. "So inventive threats yet so little actual action, sensei. Does that apply in your battles only or is that one of the reasons as to why your crotch is so tense?"

The chime of a silver bell wasn't quick enough to keep up with the chuunin's moves, and as he dashed madly down the corridor with the now extremely peeved sensei's tea collection in a firm grip under his arm, ran through their bedroom into their training room and just narrowly avoided being tackled to the ground by the teacher who had rounded to the other side of the house and lunged at him though the terrace doors, Kakashi felt a wide grin fix itself on his masked lips.

The bright spark of joy that could be spotted in the otherwise menacingly glaring dark eyes was something he could have watched longer if the imminent danger of losing his family jewels hadn't been so hot on his heels.

Q

"Maa, sensei, who would have thought that those pillars weren't actually so easy to pinpoint?"

The laughter was clear in the deep voice of the silver-haired male that rang over the sounds coming from their kitchen, and on that note Iruka felt the small, insistent tug of smile already crawl on his lips as he enjoyed the sunlight on his skin. "Who knows. You should ask the same idiot who hit his head on one of them", Iruka chuckled and gave the pillar in question a quick once-over, especially the spot that had suddenly lost some of its paint. Then again, the hint of red did match well with the silver hair. As long as it wasn't the copy-nin's own blood, that is.

"That was cruel, Iruka-sensei. I thought teachers were to be supportive when their students trip and stumble." From the way the jounin took his defeat (and the propable headache), he could have doubted that the man had let him win their latest game of tag on purpose.

"Spare me, you were a jounin instructor and based on what I heard from Naruto I have more reasons to make my students to learn the harsh reality before unleashing them on your elite neck."

"It's always a pleasure to give my humble contribution to your curriculum, Iruka-sensei." The deep, teasingly rumbling bass came closer as the jounin set his foot on the terrace with their lunch on the wooden tray held by the strong hands.

"Always thinking so highly of yourself, aren't you. Are you sure you hit your head properly enough or should we give another go with it?" With a sunny grin plastered on his lips on the loud laughter he heard from the masked assassin, Iruka gave the approaching man a suspecting, if a bit excited, glance. "What did you brew for me this time?"

Kakashi gave a nonchalant shrug. "I found this odd, roasted type. Smoky, if I have to hazard a guess." Although the lightning user couldn't help but feel just slightly annoyed, since he could very well distinct the roasts of his coffees and the levels of bitterness in his cup, but the sheer variety of scents and visual differences between the tanned nuisance's teas were giving him a bigger challenge than he liked to admit. Even on his third time rummaging through the tea addict's vast collection he had still been surprised by the amount the man had hogged up in his wooden tea box that was put back into its rightful place after his narrow escape from death. He had never thought to be literally saved by the bell during his years as an active shinobi. Not to mention being ambushed by a meddling pillar, but that was merely a fluke on the architectonic structure's side. As he spotted the warm smile that splayed itself on the bronze-skinned man's features, the mental complaints about a bunch of dry leaves and hard, wooden beams were quickly discarded.

"Sounds like hojicha. Which pouch?"

Against his reputation, Kakashi had to take second to remember. "White one with a wooden clip." ..._I think._

A low, richly vibrating hum left the tan body, and as he sat next to the man, Kakashi observed the way the meticulous tea drinker sniffed long and deeply his tea after receiving it from the older man, the tan man letting out a sigh that did interesting things to Kakashi's gut. And they say that he's the perverted one. "Hojicha it is. Interesting choice, must say. How long did you steep it?"

This part was always tricky in Kakashi's opinion. Why wasn't there just one standard system for the teacher's teas? "Four minutes." To his surprise, Iruka cast him a playful look over his cup, the brightly glinting eyes accompanied with a coy grin, and the rich baritone turned a bit smoother and more sensual as the man's skilled tongue rolled the words from the witty mouth before Kakashi's mind was actually registering what he was saying. "You know how to make my tea. A genius, undoubtedly."

Iruka could already feel his blood rush a bit faster in his veins as he recognized the same foreign gleam he had so many times witnessed to pass the gray eye, and the warm, aromatic beverage made warmth spread into his whole body as he thickly swallowed his first sip. Suddenly something cold and hard touched his thigh, and being startled from his restless thoughts enough to almost spill his tea, he jerked himself a bit backwards while his wide eyes searched out the source of the sudden interference.

An innocent-looking bottle of massage oil was slowly lifted better in sight.

Kakashi gave the baffled man a smiling pair of eyes before gingerly placing the bottle between him and the positively stunned teacher. The dark brown eyes stayed on the bottle for a moment that felt like a small eternity before they were narrowed and lifted to send quite a sharpened look at his still smiling mismatched ones. He should have seen it coming, really.

"You sneaky bastard." Well, the man could have used more offending definitions, so Kakashi chose not to retort at that verbal slap. Much.

"Now, now. It wouldn't be a favor if the time and the place suited you, neh, sensei?" The voice of the masked nin was a bit too smug for Iruka's liking.

"And what's so special about this particular time of day, Kakashi-san?" The unimpressed tone was a clear clue to Kakashi that the chuunin didn't bite the bait without him forcing it down the man's throat. Iruka's neck prickled as the hidden lips pulled in what clearly was a wide smirk stretching the dark cloth as the one-eyed wonder leaned casually back on his hands.

"As our mutual friend in green would put it, one should indulge themselves in the most straining exercises in the times when the shinobi feels most youthful and high-spirited."

A laconic, if a bit entertained eyebrow was cocked at the smirking jounin. "It's cheap to use Gai-san on an unarmed man, Kakashi-san. Besides, I think you just made me lose my appetite with that."

The deeply rumbling bark of laughter rang nicely to his ears, and Iruka couldn't help his own smirk from widening despite the nauseating tremor of dread that started to settle into his gut as his eyes once more passed over the tiny glass vessel that held its ground with an air of defiance circling it.

While being lost in his thoughts, he didn't notice the gray eye's intense gaze on him.

Q

A bowl slipped back into the hot water and Iruka cursed as the number of damp spots increased on his pants. While taking a calming breath, the sensei snatched the bowl back from the depths of the sink, spilled even more water on himself in the process, gave the infuriating piece of pottery a scalding hot rinse and shoved it into the cupboard with the rest of the annoying bunch. As the water drained down the sewer, Iruka rubbed his face tiredly, the timid tension taking its toll on him even though it was only early afternoon.

Damn that jounin.

The bastard in question had went to clean his face in the bathroom after having spewed some of his coffee inside his mask (he could only blame himself on that, since he should have seen the opening he had given to Iruka with that one joke about Raikage and washcloths) and left Iruka to handle the dirty dishes after they had finished the lunch, which he didn't mind.

What he did mind was the torture that awaited him after the dishes were done.

With that the brown eyes turned to stare with growing frustration at the imprisoned oily substance that had the nerve to stare right back at him from its glass cage.

Despite using all of the time that was mercifully given to him for forming a plan to escape, to his dismay Iruka had come up with nothing, if one didn't count the temptation to tie up and knock the bastard out cold until the end of their mission.

"I think the bottle is half full in this case, sensei", purred the deep voice suddenly very close to his ear, and Iruka had to use all of his training in order to suppress his honed instincts that decided to forget the reasoning and go straight for the killing.

To make up to his ego for that magnificent yet sadly dissatisfying performance of self-control, he spun around and aimed his fiery temper at the unnerving bastard in order to replace the lacking (although so, _so_ tempting) blows at the arrogant idiot's masked face. "Do not sneak on other shinobi, asshole!"

Although the second his eyes truly took in what exactly he was facing, it was something completely else than his temper that flared inside him.

Broad, bare chest greeted him from just two feet away, and to his further discomfort, Iruka could feel the heat of the body he had almost touched as he had turned around, and as he calculated the distance between his suddenly very tightly curled fists and the muscular, smooth flesh that teased him on close range, the teacher had to resist the skyrocketed urge to reach out and feel the skin under his fingertips. The rosy nipple that could be seen just barely in the periphery of his vision as he concentrated extremely hard on looking at the gray eye wasn't helping the matters on any level.

Thankfully, despite the rapidly pooling drool that was making it hard to move his tongue, his mouth was the first to recover. "What the hell are you up to now?"

The smile in the mismatched eyes was setting a new record on evil smugness, and Iruka had to swallow a couple of times extra when the jounin took a step closer to him, that way cornering one distressed chuunin quite effectively against the kitchen counter. "Well, isn't this usually the standard requirement for it?"

"...For what?" While his brain was still recovering from falling a victim to a prompt short-circuiting, the chuunin wasn't sure if he wanted to hear the answer, a particular part of him being highly aware by now that if the half-naked jounin as much as even coughed the word _'ass', _the wooden counter would in a beat have more than just kitchen machinery on it. A trickle of sweat begun its way down the tanned temple, and Iruka could feel its ticklish path on his skin as it crossed the cheek, the jaw, curved along the strong bone and then slipped downwards on his throat and caressed his collarbones before disappearing under his black top. The counter pressed heavily against the small of his back, and Iruka forced his hands to take a hold on the edge of the wooden board to stop his fingers from digging bleeding holes into his palms. He really needed his whole system functional to pull through the current situation, which was proving to be quite a challenge with his neck muscles that were providing a plethora of arguments for just briefly dipping...his..gaze..lower-

The smooth, low voice made a couple of more drops of sweat travel down his skin as the jounin leveled the teacher with a conniving look. "I did say that you owe me a massage, didn't I, sensei?" The jounin stepped a bit back and lifted his arms more in the air on his sides to show his upper torso more properly, much to the delight of the unfortunate chuunin's libido that was currently planning a coup d'état in Iruka's pants with the rest of his dark desires. "I also know that you want solid arguments on the things that are asked from you. So here you have it, the request laid out plain and honest, just the way you prefer it."

Oh, he preferred a lot of things right now.

While Iruka carefully schooled the mask of a strict professional back on his face and fought against the threatening blush that pinched his cheeks with the help of the passing thought on the things he could do with a willing jounin if things ever were to progress that way, he grudgingly gave the mass of strong muscles in front of him a brief glance. Although, when he finally understood what the other had meant, his head was promptly picked up from the gutter and the scorching burn that had started to increase his body heat dissolved into nothing as it was forced to make way to the deep concern that took over his once again cleared consciousness.

The sight of three large bruises that adorned the muscular body made the pang of guilt give his libido a cruel hit on the head while his sense of duty effectively disbanded the starting party from his boxers. Based on the sheer size of the damaged areas, he could easily imagine the amount of pain being equal with the visual aspect.

Had he caused that last night?

"I would really appreciate the massage now, sensei. Plus it's getting a bit chilly here." When hearing the quietly spoken words, Iruka lifted his eyes from the maimed skin and saw Kakashi give him a sheepish smile beneath his mask and the jounin scratching his neck in an awkward manner. Then again, if he heard it right, the voice of the masked man had a more serious layer in it, and as the smiling, gray eye opened to give him a look, the skillfully concealed pain became visible to him for the first time.

The following silence was long, thick and awkward.

Then, without giving any more thoughts on the matter, Iruka reached for the small glass bottle beside him on the counter and stepped closer to the masked, bruised jounin. With a firm yet gentle hand, the chuunin took hold on the pale shoulder and slowly turned the unresisting ex-ANBU around. His eyes scanned over the revealed damage done to the older man's back, every counted bruise and scratch making the lump in his throat grow bigger and sharper on each breath he forced down his lungs when he realized that what he was seeing was actually just a fragment of the whole picture, since he was sure he had hit the man's whole body with his creative punishment method.

That plan had backfired more than he had gambled for.

With that thought giving him the needed push to see beyond their troublesome tongue-lashing on the subject, Iruka gave the man's shoulder a light squeeze with his hand, and as the jounin took the subtle hint, the pair made their way to the bedroom with the uneasy silence following their each step. Then, as they stepped into the modestly furnished space, Kakashi turned around and gave Iruka a wondering look. "Where should I sit?"

The chuunin looked around for the suitable spot. Then he reached and tucked off the blanket from his futon and folded it on the floor in a neat square big enough for both of them. "Here. This should do." Obediently, Kakashi sat on the pointed fabric and as the jounin turned his broad, well sculpted back to Iruka, the chuunin felt his hold on the oil bottle tighten on the disarming sign of trust that one of their village's best assassins was giving him. For Hatake Kakashi to turn his naked back to a trained shinobi who just the other day had made him howl in pain, that decision wasn't just a tiny footnote to be quickly looked over. Calmly, Iruka counted the big bruises on the other's back once more in order to force the surfacing, completely irrelevant thoughts away from his head. Seeing naked skin on his blanket was stirring trouble within his systems, which was not the issue he wanted to concentrate on at that moment. The copy-nin was seemingly in pain, and it was his mission to ease it. He could do this. He had interacted with scantily dressed men before.

Public baths did count.

As if sensing his battling thoughts, the pervert in question turned his gray eye to give a wink over the pale shoulder to the troubled, tanned man. "Maa, would it be more comfortable for you to do it on the futon?" The bastard didn't do anything to hide the lecherous tone that also sneaked into his gaze while he glanced at his futon as an emphasis for the teasing words.

The flat look that answered his innocent innuendo spoke volumes, and the sharp click of the oil bottle's lid did remind him of the temperamental nature of his current, seemingly a bit miffed masseur. "I'd be caught dead dressed in a pink uniform before going near any rumpled bed sheets with you, Kakashi-san."

"Yet another polite rejection", Kakashi chuckled to the snort that left the man who settled on his knees behind the copy-nin's back. "But you know, even the seven hells can freeze over if given the right maneuver."

The slippery sounds of warmed-up oil ceased for a minute, and Kakashi could feel the other's piercing eyes on his neck. "That must be one hell of a jutsu then, copy-nin-san."

"You'd be surprised about the things one can learn when being sent on very bizarre missions", and with that last light note, Kakashi focused to look forward, the gray eye settling to watch their training room that bathed in the bright sunlight. Surprisingly enough, the tan hands that have already been prepared for mangling him didn't appear on his body, and his skin gave a small tremor of anticipation on the lacking touch. Then, after a moment of considering the occurred oddity, a small, warm smile tugged at his hidden lips. "I know it's you behind my back, sensei. Please, do begin."

A small silence greeted his words. "You gossip, you die. Understood?"

Kakashi gave a surprised laugh at that one. Apparently he had badly misinterpreted the reason for the man's hesitation. Nevertheless, he felt the tense air being lifted off them, and not long after that the first, if a bit hesitant roll was given to his shoulders. Gradually, the tan hands became bolder and started to diligently work through the map of damaged areas on his back, making the jounin close his always perceptive eye on the nice feeling of someone tending his body. With his eyesight taken out of the game for a while, his other senses took over. He could smell the fresh scent of the oil, smell the hands that were working on a particularly nasty knot below his shoulder blade, felt the other's light breathing brushing against the skin areas that were a bit chilly with the first drops of oil being smeared over them and felt every flex of the deft fingers that traveled up and down his body, the tanned, perfectly controlled hands running over his now slippery skin while pressing, rubbing and rolling on the expertly targeted spots. The teacher had obviously given a massage before. The soothing tingle of chakra wasn't bad either.

All in all, the man of thousand jutsus was very pleased with his situation right now.

Iruka, on the other hand, was having troubles with his ethics. The glistening oil made the already distinct bruises stand out even more, and as he mapped the injuries both with his hands and eyes, to his unpleasant surprise he saw some very fresh, deep purple areas within the older, larger ones. Without knowing, he had obviously increased the man's agony during their first matches for the day. Why on earth the jounin didn't say anything to Tsunade? She could have easily healed the worst of them, as in now, as capable aid as the chakra-infused oil was, the man had to deal with a sore torso for a few days, possibly even a week. He had meant to make the man suffer from the lewd stunts he had pulled, and by all means, the bastard had deserved it in his opinion, but seeing the evidence of his rather violently performed retribution did make his conscience a bit bitchy.

Sometimes it really was a pain to be raised as a good boy.

Gradually, a tingle of different, pale green chakra took over his hands that worked on the pale skin.

"Don't waste your own chakra, sensei", the jounin's voice was suddenly very sharp and commanding, and Iruka, true to his nature, had none of it at that moment once he had his mind set to it. He was also more than willing to let the man know that.

"Save the idiotic bravery for something that actually counts, Kakashi-san", dropped the irritated reply from the chuunin's mouth, and to emphasize his point, the amount of healing chakra increased momentarily on a particularly nasty-looking spot. "It won't benefit our mission if one of us can't function properly, which is something that all cell leaders should understand."

"It also doesn't benefit us if you tire yourself now", the rumbling voice had taken a new note in it, and after a beat, Iruka recognized it as Kakashi's most formal one. The man was turning their ranks once again at him.

That prick. "I can regulate the use of my chakra, unlike _someone_ I know."

Kakashi's eyebrow gave a twitch. Now that was a low punch. "As your superior-" A gasp of pain took Kakashi by surprise when the chuunin dug his knuckles in a surprisingly painful spot between his ribs. Hell that _hurt_!

"Wasn't it you who just yesterday dared to lecture me about merging myself into the team and to view the others as my own hands and legs? I don't know how you guys get trained to work on the field, but I could hardly imagine gaining any glory out of the battle if half of my body is crippled." Iruka's temper had somehow snuck up on him and he could already feel the hair on his neck stand on its ends as the familiar crackle of an oncoming verbal match struck a cord in him. Damn that man's ways of constantly rubbing him the wrong direction. The second he felt the muscles on the other man shift and roll, Iruka slammed his hands on the broad shoulders and focused all of his strength on those two specific areas in order to keep the other still. Then, after a deep breath, he gambled his game. "Kakashi-san."

The inquiring sound that left the other man was clearly out for blood.

"Please stop being a stubborn ass and let me heal you."

An intense wall of silence was dropped on them, and for a moment Iruka was sure he'd get thrown out of the room as the whole being of the copy-nin stiffened under his palms. It obviously wasn't everyday for the infamous Sharingan user that a lower rank forced medical care upon him. Then, slowly, the silver-haired nin's muscles slumped and turned pliant under his fingers, and the voice that carried over the pale shoulder was calm, but also holding something else that was hard for Iruka to decipher. "...I swear the boy is taking after you on more levels than it really is healthy, sensei."

Iruka couldn't stop the victorious grin from forming on his lips. "At least I asked nicely."

The amusement rang in the jounin's humming voice as the silver-haired head nodded. Iruka should have anticipated the following question, though. "Does that mean that you'd feel up my chest as well?"

Swatting one's patients on the head wasn't the way professional medics were supposed to handle things if the ones being healed turned out to be difficult cases. The loud smack that came from an oiled hand meeting with a mane of silver hair was a stinging reminder for Kakashi that Iruka wasn't tied to the medic's ethics, and apparently the ethical instructions for the Ninja Academy teachers had all the physical punishments highlighted in neon colors. "An active jounin should understand by now that healing the injuries does not mean increasing their amount, Kakashi-san."

Speaking of which. "Maa. You seem to know quite a lot about things concerning our profession, Iruka-sensei."

A dry snort was given at that. "It's a standard requirement to know quite a lot of things if one is a teacher in an academy, you know." Iruka wiped his forehead clear from sweat, since his body hadn't used that much of chakra in a long time and it began to show, and after deeming the pale back being in better condition than it had been as the intensity of the marks was reduced to half, the green-hued chakra vanished from covering his palms and all that was left was the pale blue glow of the massage oil. Now, back to the matters at hand.

"I know that noticing the rank and position rarely tells much about the person possessing them", Kakashi said and gave the skilled hands more space to work on his right shoulder by turning his head a bit. Ah, that was a sore spot there. "Hearing them discussing on interesting matters is what counts usually. After all, all teams are formed by a good reason, at least in theory, so it's only natural that team members wish to know something more detailed about their comrades than just the name and face. Even the ones that wear a mask over their faces."

Iruka's attention was clearly snatched back to the conversation on that sentence, and as the massaging hands slowed for a moment on the jounin's spine, it was all Kakashi needed to keep going. "It's also rare to meet so practice-oriented teacher in the times of peace."

Iruka wasn't sure if he liked where the discussion was heading, and gave the man's lower back a firm squeeze, although his eyes were trained on the pale nape of the muscular neck in front of him. "I wouldn't say that, Kakashi-san. Even though the peaceful era has lasted longer than any of us may have anticipated, we're still shinobi. Our ranks will still kill and get killed on the field. Isn't that what our training aims for?"

"You answered the question yourself already, sensei." Kakashi took a better position on the floor before turning back on track. "It's the way you both study and work, basically. If I try to explain you something, the mere theory isn't adequate enough to provide you with the feel and sense of the taught move. On the other hand, if I show it to you, or better yet, beat you with it", he wasn't sure if that was a light punch or just a stronger push given to his upper back, but nevertheless, it made him chuckle, "you've covered it by the third match." Then, a more serious tone took over his musings. "Besides, none of the things the trouble trio actually had learned from you weren't from the beloved lectures you frequently bestow upon your higher-ups as well...well, save for Sakura on some parts." Even though the following thoughtful silence was interesting in itself, Kakashi was particularly intrigued by the hesitant changes of pressure happening on Iruka's right hand fingers.

As no answer nor retort came, Kakashi went forward. "Same for this mission-"

"Turn around, Kakashi-san." The hands had disappeared from his back, and Kakashi turned to look over his shoulder at the surprisingly subdued sensei. The chuunin answered his eye with the dark pair of his own and then rolled them in a full circle before crossing the well-built arms on the equally nicely sculpted, albeit clothed, chest. "You wanted me to heal your other side as well, am I correct?"

Now it was his turn to hesitate. There was an odd layer in the teacher's words. "Ah. Well. If it isn't too much to ask."

"Keep stalling and soon it will be", came the calm retort. Quickly, the jounin turned around on the spot and Iruka had to bite his tongue to keep it from commenting on the rather tasty piece of a man he was now watching as his eyes swept over the bunching and smoothing muscles when the other man sat back down and settled into a comfy posture. Then, after a long, deep breath to calm his muscles from trembling, Iruka reached his hands towards the jounin and a green glow took over his palms once more as he focused his gaze on one very mean-looking bruise. Then, he placed the bets. "You were saying something about this mission?"

"Why are you keeping your hands so far away, sensei?"

That change of subject did nothing to lower his stress levels and he gave the infuriating man a patient glare he usually received only for Konohamaru and his gang. "We didn't agree on me giving a massage to your chest, just the healing. That's all I'll do." Unless he was asked nicely...he really should focus on the bruise now.

As tempting as continuing their earlier dialogue was, Kakashi really couldn't disregard the opening he was given. "Maa, but isn't it said that it's exactly the loving touch that heals the best?"

He was fairly sure that the chuunin's shoulders tensed for other reasons as well than just holding in a mean punch. "Firstly, that only applies between people who are actually acquainted with the mentioned emotion, which I hardly believe for either of us, and secondly, lean one more inch closer than you already have and you'll be missing a nipple, bastard." The low voice was strict and meant every word, and Kakashi was sure it applied even on the ones hidden between the lines.

A silvery eyebrow rose a bit at the undoubtedly rather painful idea. "Well that wouldn't be nice."

The look on the dark brown eyes was hard and definite. "No, I imagine it wouldn't."

When Iruka saw the masked smirk it was already too late to react.

Out of clear blue, he found pale hands slamming around both his neck and left upper arm and his whole body abruptly changing its angle as he was roughly manhandled to the ground on his back with his arms pushed to the floor above his head before a very familiar weight settled on his pinned body. As he quickly understood the proximity of the other man's certain body parts when compared to the location of his own and then registered how close to his face the masked nose actually was, the sight of the darkened, gray eye sending fits of tremors running over his body, he was more than temped to find out the deity that was on guard duty and beat the shit out of its ethereal being. The deep, rumbling voice sent heated shivers dancing on his skin and the gust of air coming from the masked mouth made him smell the dark roast and sliver of sweet melon in the jounin's breath, his mind turning hazy on the given stimuli so fast that he almost thought he had misheard the words that were murmured near his lips.

"Then you shouldn't have let me to get into your close range, sensei."

...Come again?

The dark, wide and stunned eyes fixed themselves to look back at the intense gray, and, within seconds, Iruka realized there to be no trace of the familiar yet undefined glint that had usually flashed in the jounin's sharp eye in moments like this.

In other words, the prick knew exactly what he was doing.

On that rather illuminating realization, Iruka's skyrocketing temper was given its eagerly awaited permission to shake off the shackles of control.

A sharp slap echoed through the air and Kakashi barely managed to catch his fall to his side while a sting of burning pain took over his masked jaw and cheek.

Not only that, but he was pretty sure they didn't have any buckets of ice cold water conveniently located in the bedroom.

The voice of the teacher sounded distant and strangely detached as his still ringing ears picked up only the monotonous sounds of the water drops hitting the floor. What the man had said before he picked himself up, gave Kakashi one last furious look and then stalked to the kitchen, Kakashi couldn't say.

Q

A drink.

He needed something to drink.

Actually, what he really needed was one of his katanas to cut one asshole in half and save the others from the trouble.

The shaking hands worked vigorously over the pouch of black tea, and an aggravated curse was hissed between the gritted teeth as some of the dry leaves missed the sieve and scattered over the kitchen counter. The water boiler didn't even manage to give out the click before it was taken and the hot water was dumped into the awaiting cup, while Iruka, somewhere in the back of his fiercely spinning head, knew that the machine had done nothing against him and therefore it was a bit rude to slam it hard on the table surface after using it. But, as the situation was, he didn't give a fuck at the idea of propriety as he was itching for more than just abusing some non-living objects.

A trap.

A mere fucking trap.

And he had walked right into it.

The sieve was aggressively pulled out of the water and the moment his nose finally picked up the scent of what he had steeped, the metal net found itself suddenly flung against the nearest wall, the wet leaves exploding in a heap of wet clumps against it and then sliding down the painted surface. The wailing clink of metal hitting the wooden floor was only a mere distant echo in Iruka's ears while the thrumming roar of his boiling blood took most of his attention.

_"Then you shouldn't have let me to get into your range, sensei."_

A fierce fist made the cupboard door splinter.

That fucker had contaminated his pu'erh.

The freshly brewed tea was unceremoniously throwed down the sink and a feral growl rose from the man's throat as the teacher felt his whole being tremble in rage at the sight of wasted tea. That conniving jerk in a mask would _pay_. As steeping yet another cup was currently out of question, if the massacre by the wall was any indication, Iruka quickly filled the cup with cold water, for his need to drink and hydrate his body was pressing on his consciousness with every passing second. The attack he had hit the jounin with had surprised him as much as the recipient of his wrath, but currently he was more concerned about the black edges that crept closer to his vision the longer he delayed the replenishing of his element.

Without giving any toasts to the surrounding silence, he took a greedy swig from the cup.

As the cold liquid touched his lips and the taken gulp flowed down the bronze-skinned throat, an odd wave of shivers ran down his figure and made him place the other hand on the counter. The dark eyes narrowed at the sensation, and after a moment of consideration the tanned man took a second, deliberately slower sip. As the water brushed past his lips, not a second was wasted before a new, even stronger wave of tremors raked down his whole body, all the way from his head to toes, and it took all of Iruka's willpower not to spill the taken mouthful out the same way it had went in. Suddenly his body felt like being caught on fire and his eyesight disappeared, leaving him with only a chaos of blue shadows surrounding him. His gut twisted and turned in a fit of what felt like a very nasty temper tantrum and his lungs felt like they were crushed under a weight that curled around his internal organs like a snake. As he blindly steadied himself against the counter and fought to stay standing on way too wobbly legs, Iruka dazedly realized his breathing coming in shallow pants, making it more difficult to calm himself down without the possibility to take a deep breath, and with growing nausea he realized there to be only one action he should take in order to survive the asphyxiating assault that had taken over his already spasming body.

They had to summon-

"..ei? _Sensei?_"

He wasn't sure if those were his own words he was hearing. His vision reeled violently and was suddenly wrapped tightly in a bright blue cocoon that intensified with each passing heave his lungs barely managed to pull through his constricting throat. Numbly, as he turned to look in the direction of the heard noise and felt his hand to let go of the counter, his eyes stared unseeing at the electric blue, blurry figure who moved towards him. When he understood that he could no longer feel his legs, he more felt than heard his mouth move to form the last coherent sentence he was somehow sure that the strange shadow understood.

A clear, simple request, really.

"...Catch me."

The tea cup shattered as it fell to the hard floor from his limp hand, and as his mind slipped into the dark void that enclosed him inside its soothing silence, Iruka smiled ruefully as the last, weak thoughts that made all of his barriers shatter around him like the frail porcelain that gave out its last, sharp cry as it cracked and lost its particles' balance in its impact with the unyielding wooden boards, disappeared into nothingness.

Nothing important, apparently.

QQQ

_AN: And the game continues._


	14. Day 10, Night

_AN: Double dynamic entry!_  
_  
...Couldn't help myself._

_Enjoy the second part. Now featuring: Kakashi.  
_

Day 10, Night: Matters at hand

The light-skinned fingers ran over the cold, sweaty skin, their soothing motion repetitive and gentle. The silence was their only company in the scarcely decorated room as the owner of the caressing fingers sensed the other two presences sitting near both her and the one she held, one on each side, to be precise, but none of them gave each other any attention. Namely because they all shared one common person to look over, and the faintly glowing fingertips trembled ever so finely as they crossed a weak pulse point beneath the strong tendons on the dark-skinned throat.

As Tsunade removed her hands from Iruka's body, she knew the other two had their undivided attention drawn at her. Silently, she picked herself up from the floor and the tense ambiance seemed to only make her heels click with a louder echo as she walked to the opened double doors and cast a look to the outside world. The setting evening light that greeted her did make it more difficult to keep the calmness in her voice. "Shizune."

"...Tsunade-sama?" Apparently she wasn't the only one struggling with words.

"Look after him for a moment. I need to discuss with the brat for a bit." She didn't need the affirming words to know that her aide was already focusing on something more important than her conversations with the copy-nin who had silently appeared on her side. With a heavy sigh, the village's leading medic went through the eerily silent training room, stepped down the terrace's stairs and let her legs carry her over the large yard which was still basking in the last rays of warm sunlight.

She didn't need to hear the jounin in order to know that he had joined her.

"He's stable now, but I wouldn't let it past it that something else weren't to happen yet." Accompanied with the calm words, the amber eyes slowly turned to give an unreadable look at the lone gray that she had felt on her for a while already. "All we can do is wait for now."

The nod she received was small, silent and subtle, and yet it screamed at her. "Understood, Tsunade-sama."

"Do you really?"

Kakashi gave a surprised blink at the suddenly harsh voice coming from his leader. Apparently he had missed something vital to make Tsunade glare at him like she did, the amber eyes gleaming with hard light in them, and the grimly frowning, painted lips glowing faintly as the rays of light traveled over the woman's face.

Tsunade felt her ill temper subside at the sight of the calm, confused man, knowing that he wasn't aware of the things they had to pull in order to keep the tanned sensei on their side of the living world as they had kicked the jounin out of the kitchen when they had attended the violently spasming chuunin who was literally spilling his guts out on the kitchen floor. It took two of her ANBU's to keep the man out while she knew she couldn't afford sparing even a glance to anyone else than Iruka whose skin had already started to lose some of its sunny color. As the facts were, despite feeling unwilling to do so, she was obliged to fill in the jounin now, since she couldn't afford losing neither of the men for this mission. She had already been tempted to abort the research after she had read Shizune's full report on their first encounter with the troublesome side effects that, to her dismay, seem to only grow stronger as the mission drew forward. Discarding the surfacing thought of what if they had come even a minute later gave her the much needed voice back. "It was worse this time, Kakashi." The flash of agitation in the gray eye made a somber smile spread on her lips before it vanished as she continued. "You did right when you summoned us straight away when you sensed that something was off, but it was still a closer call than I'd like it to be. Iruka's heart had already stopped for a beat, but luckily not longer than a second. What were you two doing when it happened?" In the haste of the moment she had seen the remnants of the shattered tea cup and what seemed like wet leaves having been thrown to the wall close by, and unfortunately she wouldn't put it past the keenly bickering duo to have their elements going on a rampage right in the middle of their fighting. Why Kakashi was half-naked, wet and half-way oiled up when they had found him next to the fallen teacher, she left it to the man to decide if he wished to elaborate a bit on that, even though she had a few more or less entertaining ideas concerning the extraordinary sight they had stumbled upon when entering the house.

"Iruka-sensei gave me a massage and we had a small conversation about his learning skills." The voice of the silver-haired man was nonchalant, but the edge was there. That was all the clue she was apparently given on that matter.

"Conversation or a shouting match, brat?" A tiny humorless snort escaped Tsunade and she shook her head a bit at the slightly offended look on the masked face. "Sorry, sorry, do continue if there's more to it." Knowing her subordinate, the man was sure to detect the hidden order behind her lightly worded request.

The gray eye saw the demand, but was buying none of it. "_Either way_, the sensei also used some of his own chakra to heal some of my injuries", yet another interesting thing in Tsunade's notes as she had taken notice on some of the marks on the pale body when she had sent the man into shower with her ANBU to guard him after they had managed to move the sensei to the bedroom, "even though I strongly advised him not to, and then...well."

Kakashi knew he just gave her more than enough ammo to make him bed-ridden as well as something intense flashed in the amber eyes. " _'Well'_ ?"

"I may have pushed his button or two." Kakashi focused very hard to keep himself from wincing at the sharp glare that pierced his skull and kept his feet from twitching when the fair-haired woman turned to fully face him a few feet away. Even an inch in the wrong way and he'd be missing half of his head judging by the look on their Hokage's youthful face.

"What's going on, brat?"

He was sure he usually didn't have much problems in swallowing before. "..I'm afraid I don't have enough information to form a coherent answer on that yet, Tsunade-sama."

"Enough information my superior sannin ass, I haven't seen you this timid ever since the disbanding of your genin team." The woman stepped a few steps closer, and Kakashi could sense the irritation roll off her in sharp waves. "Listen carefully, Hatake. Iruka is a fine shinobi and even finer specimen when it comes to the criteria of an eligible bachelor. You hurt him in any way, physical or mental, and I make sure that you'll not only get denounced back to a genin but will be sent on the longest, hardest and most boring D-rank there ever will be requested from our village after cutting off your genitals and making a doorhandle of your cock and earrings out of your testicles. Am I understood?"

Spending time with each other at work, Iruka and Tsunade were clearly exchanging the ideas of good threats for her shinobi, since amidst his slightly shocked surprise at the reprimanding warning, Kakashi was certain he could almost hear the rich baritone ring through the quietly spoken words. Therefore he knew very well that all he was expected to give was a positive answer if he still wished to keep all vital body parts intact. "Yes, Hokage-sama."

Tsunade gave the jounin one last long look before she brushed past him and walked a few steps back towards the house, but the high heels stopped to stand over a long line that crossed the ground. The voice that carried over her tense shoulder matched the stress Kakashi could easily spot on the woman, and the copy-nin knew better than to think that she had let her body language slip from the careful control she had it firmly wrapped in. "..We may have found an anomaly in one sample."

"An anomaly?" The ring of hesitant alertness was barely kept away from Kakashi's voice as he slowly processed the slip of information she had given him, undoubtedly to clue him in that there was something very much more discerning going on within them than their current petty problems of misbehaving arousals.

Tsunade gave a weak nod before the blonde head turned upwards, the Hokage seemingly considering how much of the raw data she could afford telling him. As the woman didn't answer his look, Kakashi knew that he'd be left with less than little information as an answer for the time being. "I need to return to the study, as we were just about to start working on it when the alarms went off. There might be a clue to this, but it's too soon to speculate on that yet. It could also be just contamination playing its tricks on us as far as we know." Then, the amber eyes turned to look at Shizune who had appeared on the terrace, the calm look on the younger woman's face fooling neither of them about the seriousness of the situation. Nevertheless, it was their cue to continue forward. "Can I trust you with this, Hatake?"

The quiet murmur was meant for both him and her, and Kakashi knew the answer even before giving it any other thoughts. He was Hatake Kakashi, after all, and he never failed a mission. So, with the air so familiar to others around him, he acted as he was expected and gave his leader a smile with his eyes, even though he knew fully well that she didn't see it. It was the one kind of smile that was reserved only for them two whenever the situation was dire enough for her to doubt him.

In that moment, he was no longer just a man with a dilemma. He was a shinobi with a hopefully good answer.

"As always, Hokage-sama."

Q

The gray clouds had gathered over the village, and the equally gray eye peered over the worn, orange cover as the jounin's keen hearing picked up the first drops of water hitting the roof.

Any more rain and they'd need to reconsider their village's name.

As the irregular drips turned gradually into a monotonous wall of hushed noise, Kakashi settled better against the terrace wall and picked up the plot from where he had left off. Or the porn without one, as it seemed to be the case with the next few pages.

Soon enough, though, he felt the first tremors of cold taking hold on his bare arms.

..Meh. He'll adapt.

After a moment, the gray eye narrowed into an annoyed slit as a stronger pinch was given to his skin.

Like hell he would.

With a sharp snap, the book was closed and the man picked himself up from the chilly floorboards, the pale hand snatching the empty coffee mug in tow as the lean legs carried the jounin into the kitchen. A lone light was put on the counter and the mug was quickly rinsed before it was gently put on its spot next to his tins.

The coffee had had an odd taste in it. The gray eye narrowed to give a small glare at the traitorous grains and then it stopped to rest on the untouched wooden box that rested quite near to them. Sans the ever present, well used tea cup that had become a solid, unchanging factor on their kitchen counter.

Just like the tan hands treasuring it.

The gray eye shifted to look at the still damp spot on the lightly painted wall, the remnants of the steeped tea leaves still attached on the paint and slowly giving their surroundings some brownish-red color. The sieve laid still on the floor.

With the silence as his only companion, Kakashi went and swept gracefully down to pick up the slightly dented metal net, and the copy-nin gave the sieve an examining look. The teacher had been more than just merely angry with him. Carefully, the pale man took the sieve back to the light by the counter, and the nimble fingers dug out the rest of the soaked mush that was still inside it before giving it an almost apologizing rinse with warm water. Then the digits ran over the dented area and slowly straightened the damaged metal, the pouring rain being the only sound inside the light gray house for the time the jounin concentrated on the rather small detail in his mission partner's life that still managed to carry a whole world on its immaterial shoulders.

Kakashi could even claim the sieve being the chuunin's equivalent for his Icha Icha.

A small, sound chuckle was found on his lips on that thought. At least the teacher's reactions were very similar to him when somebody found the nerve to mess with his porn. A fact which still gave his head a dull throb on the spot where he was undoubtedly adorning a hefty bump from the accidental and embarrassing encounter with their home's architectonic wonders.

Except that it wasn't the sieve that completed the complex man called Umino Iruka.

The narrow eye swept over a spot on the wooden floor, but it had already been cleaned from the white, frail shards, save for the one he had put into a safe place. He could only hope that the tanned man could appreciate that tiny gesture.

If he survived the moment when those dark, fiery eyes would open again, that is.

A sound ping made his ears ring after being so well accustomed to the heavy silence around him, and it took him a moment to find out the source for the odd sound of which he was pretty sure it didn't mean that he had finally reached his breaking point. Then again, seeing that they had forgotten to take their laundry out of the machine did make him consider the small slaps of life when things were already teetering on the edge of crumbling into chaos. At least he would smell better when the chuunin regained his consciousness again. With a quiet hum, the jounin crouched down and opened the machine, took a hefty bundle of dark clothes on his arms and set his way back to the terrace where they had created a few makeshift clotheslines for drying their clothes, the expertly tied ropes waiting in organized lines between the last two pillars on the terrace.

The sensei knew his knots, Kakashi gave him that. Where the tanned man had found the rope for it was a question the lightning user really wasn't sure if he ever wished to get answered, though. A smirk tugged the hidden lips as the man considered the concealed layers of his enigmatic mission partner, and the jounin set the clean clothes on the wooden rail before calmly stretching each garment open and putting it hanging from the ropes with the clips they had found from the bathroom the first time they had checked the cabinets. Two times he repeated the walk between the laundry machine and the terrace, and four times he had to wonder if they actually were so different after all or if all single male shinobi bought their underwear from the same outlet.

Although the black boxer briefs made of bamboo and silk did make the silvery eyebrows rise a bit.

No wonder Iruka's ass attracted all kinds of pests.

Briefly, the hands holding the criminalizing undergarment tightened their hold on the smooth fabric as Kakashi felt a stir in his gut at the memory of the last night.

He had been taken by surprise on just how agitated his muscles had become when he had walked in on the two men in the kitchen and had seen his former kohai corner the man he knew to be anything else than an easy target (it had taken a while for Genma to dare approach the standard office pens again after one particular flirting situation gone wrong, which was later labeled as Pen Penalty n:o 16, or, as the jounin population got to know it, 'Don't grab Umino's ass if you're running late with your report'), and for a reason he hadn't had time to analyze, his instincts had started to act more livid than usual around the brunette. The same had happened in the morning as well, as the sight of the armored arms around the young teacher had struck a strange nerve within his system. Sure, he had many rivals on different subjects, Gai covering most of them, but the feeling that had been ignited in his muscles didn't resemble any of his latest competitive situations. What it did resemble, though, was a matter he wasn't too keen to pick up from the naphthalene just yet.

The boxers went up on the rope next to his with a print of kunais on the waistband, and the jounin narrowed his look at the superficially innocent yet infinitely important pair of shinobi clothing.

What he yet didn't understand, though, was the number of masks that the seemingly openhearted chuunin actually carried over the scarred features. He had sensed the pair of keenly observing eyes that morning when he had performed his standard workout he usually did when he needed to ease up some extra energy, which in most people's opinions was as probable for him to have as for an Akimichi to declare to start a salad diet.

All the things one did to maintain a certain reputation.

Nevertheless, the eyes he had felt on him were bordering the lines of a predatory gaze, and he could still remember the odd feeling he had traveling on his skin as he had caught a quick glimpse of the intense gleam in the dark orb that had been watching him behind the narrow gap, which was an opening he had intentionally left for the man to either take or discard and then take on another route.

What he might have done if the chuunin had opened the doors to their bedroom instead of going to the kitchen, he wasn't sure he himself had even figured out that time. He had worked on his instincts mostly at that moment, and he had known exactly what they would have voted for should he have found the guts to step to the double doors and pull them open to reveal the other man standing behind them.

One rarely shared a house with a more than sufficiently enticing individual and resisted the temptation for any other physical activities than just punching the other repeatedly in the face.

The jounin picked up a dark muscle shirt, the piece of clothing unfortunately empty without the tanned body filling it, and as the pale digits ran over the well worn fabric, yet another wondering sentiment surfaced in the silver-haired geniuses head. After a moment of hesitating, ever so slowly, the dark mask was peeled down from the pale face and the shirt was lifted to the revealed nose.

The rain was glad that it had decided to pay the village yet another visit.

Q

Inhale.

Exhale.

Hit.

Repeat.

The gray light flowed its own ways on the ex-ANBU's body as the assassin moved in the spacious, darkened room on silent feet. The body of an experienced nin wove its ways through the humid air as the hands and legs, made of flesh for a human, became steel-hard, deadly tools as they slashed and kicked their way in the middle of the imaginary battle.

They had only a couple of years before the potential hell would break loose.

An expertly pulled combination of an upper cut kick and four horizontal swings dislocated the ghost's shoulder from its neck tendons before severing the vital arteries.

He really should have known better.

A roundhouse kick completed with a crushing blow against the matted floor made sure the transparent opponent wouldn't rise from that fall.

_"Can I trust you with this?"_

Inhale.

Exhale.

Hit.

As always.

Q

It was nutrition, granted, but it wouldn't have been so bad to actually taste it as well.

The jounin took a deep breath through his nose while the jaws chomped on a freshly made sandwich, the lean body being slumped against the counter as the gray eye observed the fallen dark night through the kitchen door. A small sip was taken on the steaming drink, and for a moment the revealed lips twisted into a displeased pout.

The coffee was bland.

The fish was bland.

His mood was getting sick of things being bland.

A tired, if a bit irritated, sigh left the frowning lips and the sandwich was tucked neatly in a small napkin before it was put into the fridge next to the other ingredients of their healthy diet that was given a dark glare over the mask's edge.

The copy-nin could have killed for a decent cup of sake right now. At least then his night wouldn't have tasted and felt so unnervingly bland and boring. It could have also eased his nerves a bit, and the gray eye was turned to look at the slighty opened bedroom door. Then, the jounin closed the uncharacteristically healthily equipped fridge of theirs (since he was fairly sure that the otherwise annoyingly healthy-looking, nicely tanned nuisance wasn't all thumbs up for their current food arrangement either. He had seen him by the Ichiraku with Naruto, after all), and ambled his slouched way to the threshold of the room that held in his currently fallen team member. It took a while for his eye to adjust in the surprisingly thick darkness that had taken over the room, save for the dim glow that came from the kitchen light behind him, but as he slowly made out the form of the other male, a sense of concern nudged his side as he took in the man's present demeanor.

The dark, now almost black hair was spread over the white pillow and the usually vivid and expressive eyes were closed, not to mention the ever loud mouth being shut and silenced for once. The sight Kakashi saw could have been described peaceful, calming even, but the almost nonexistent rise and fall of the muscular chest was enough to make the ones with more intel on the situation break into cold sweat.

Worse than before, huh.

But what had been the trigger?

As many times as he had replayed the situation that had led to the collapsing of the chuunin, Kakashi couldn't help but think that he was still missing the most meaningful pieces to provide him with the accurate conclusion. He hadn't used his element on the other man, that much he knew...or at least hoped. He had only tested out a theory that had been nagging in his mind ever since he had prevented the kohai from becoming an endangered species, but save for the sudden water attack he had been struck with by the obviously enraged teacher, there was nothing else to grasp on. And then the man did and went down without asking for a permission first. Ironically, even the strict teacher could apparently have a bad sense of timing in some occasions.

The low groan that carried through the room was all he needed to discard the swirling thoughts and for kicking his body on the move.

Since that groan didn't come from him.

Quickly, the jounin strode across the room and knelt down next to the resting man, and for a passing moment, as he scanned over the sleeping features, Kakashi began to doubt that his timid mind had made him mistake something else for the richly rumbling baritone as the chuunin's features stayed immobile as a clay mask. Then he saw it.

The lively eyes were moving beneath the eyelids.

Cautiously, the masked face lowered itself over the comatose chuunin. "..Sensei..? Iruka-sensei..?"

Nothing, at first. Then...a small gruff.

Nobody said that the progress should always involve words. They were overrated anyway. Gently, Kakashi lifted his hand and gave the bare shoulder a tiny nudge. For some reason his fingertips began to tingle as they pressed against the bit warmed-up skin, but that could have been the last sparks of Tsunade's chakra based on the unfamiliarity of it. He had been introduced with the sensei's chakra more than it was dignifying for his ego, so he was pretty sure to recognize the man's chakra pattern by now. By the lack of any response, the jounin tightened his hold a bit on the man's still sweaty skin and gave the still form a firmer push.

If he did get attacked by a disoriented shinobi, at least then he would know that they were getting somewhere.

The opening of the bleary, dark eyes was also a good sign, and Kakashi felt a strong stir twist his gut as the unfocused eyes blinked slowly before attempting to direct themselves at his masked face. Without his mind noticing what the rest of him was doing, his body leaned closer over the silently breathing man, and the mismatched eyes crinkled into a warm smile. "Welcome back, sensei. Had a good nap?"

"..W..wt.." The jounin gave a slightly worried look at the full lips that seemed uncooperative on the tanned face, and before he actually understood since when his hand had gained its autonomy, a pale finger was pressed on the full, sun-kissed lips. Something flared a bit inside Kakashi's upper chest by the abnormally intimate feeling of the other's warm skin against his own, and apparently he wasn't the only one surprised by it if the suddenly widened stare of the dark, shocked eyes was any hint.

With an effort, the infamous Hound made an awkward smile crawl on his hidden lips as he calmly removed the digit from the dry lips and rubbed the rebellious finger with his thumb. Then, he realized it. The lips had felt dry as sandpaper, and for a shinobi whose both hands had been hardened by the work on the battlefields and took nowadays more than a feather-light touch to sometimes distinct differences of feelings on his fingers, that said a lot.

How stupid can a genius be, really?

Instead of smacking himself on the head for overlooking obvious matters, Kakashi gave the resting man one more smile. "I'll get you some water, sensei. Then we can try talking again, neh?" Fluidly, he stood up and walked briskly to the kitchen to retrieve his mug and the water boiler which he filled up with cold water, since he really didn't look forward for wasting time searching for an undoubtedly non-existing jug, before reappearing into the bedroom just in time to see the fiery-tempered chuunin sitting clumsily up on his futon. He gave the man a flat stare, knowing perfectly well that should he try to force the man to stay still he would only get a couple of more bruises to accompany his older ones. Then again, now he also didn't need to hold the man up in order to make him drink. He wasn't disappointed. Not really. "Maa, sensei, not even fully dressed and already going up and about."

Well, at least the blush was still perfectly functional and existent.

"Sorry, sorry, just couldn't help it", Kakashi chuckled at the groggily unimpressed and unsynchronized blink he was given as he crouched down next to the muted man. He could feel the dark eyes on him as he filled his mug with the clear tap water and then offered it to the chuunin. "Here. Let's get some hydration in you. Then you can test those lungs on me."

As their fingers met over the mug's surface, the spark of a blue light that stung on their fingers was a rather unexpected factor in the equation of passing an object to one another, and the mug was almost dropped on the blanket that was still covering the recuperating teacher who had yanked his hands back from the ignited oddity. As he held the innocent mug in his slightly shaking hands, Kakashi's mind was racing on top speed.

...Alright. They needed another method.

The former ANBU captain placed the mug gently on the floor and glanced the expectant-looking chuunin. The man could surely take the hint. After a small silence and seeing that nothing significant was going on in the teacher's head, the pale hand patiently pushed the mug a bit closer to the mattress. Ah. Now the light went on in the brown eyes. Kakashi observed calmly as the tan hand approached the ceramic mug, hovering just above the smooth surface, and the dark eyes tried to focus on the chuunin's target. At the strangely helpless sight, Kakashi began to understand there to be something else off as well than just the missing voice when concerning the actions of the younger man. "Wait." The hesitating hand stilled. The gray eye peered more closely to the dark brown orbs that had looked back up at his voice. "Do you see me, sensei?"

The unsure silence was all he needed. A frustrated groan arose from his throat. He was getting good at making their situations more difficult than they really were. With a renewed plan, while feeling a bit peeved at himself at the same time, the Sharingan user picked up the mug once more and fixed the unseeing eyes with a stern look. "I will hold the mug while you drink, if that's alright with you." A slow, albeit wary nod was given to him, and for a moment Kakashi wasn't even sure if the blankly staring man had actually understood the words that were spoken to him. Nevertheless, he had a patient to look after, and even without any motherly instincts to begin with, he figured it shouldn't be that hard to get an over twenty-year-old male to drink while they couldn't see even their own nose.

After all, he had been to a few parties in his life when he had found time for it.

He carefully pressed the edge of the mug on the still lips, and as they tentatively nibbled the hard rim, the ex-ANBU really hoped that he could look somewhere else at that moment. "Now drink up, sensei." His voice sounded harsher than he had meant it, and he watched as a somewhat hard gleam flashed in the dark eyes before the lips parted enough for him to tilt the mug and let the water pour down the apparently very dry, bronze-skinned throat.

For a few minutes, the subtle sound of repetitive gulps was all the noise heard in the bedroom of the two shinobi.

Feeling the mug being empty, and hearing a satisfied, small sigh leaving the now moistened lips, Kakashi removed the ceramic dish back for a refill, figuring that it might take more than just one dose to revive the chuunin's collapsed systems. Then, on the passing, idle idea, his hands stilled as they offered the second mug to the tanned man. Could that be the trigger?

"...M..more.."

The jounin's eye snapped back to reality and focused itself on the now more deeply breathing chuunin. With a small nod, the jounin pressed the mug once more on the man's mouth and let the water pour in. The rising moan from the man's naked chest was doing surprising things to his own body, and as the sensually flowing sounds became increasingly louder and more frequent with each passing gulp the younger man took from the mug it was staring to make the usually detached jounin very restless with his eye unthinkingly kept on the greedily drinking man's throat.

More precisely on the spot that once had had his teeth marks on it.

Iruka was floating. Or that's what he had felt inside his body as the first drops of water had touched his mouth. The blue shadows around him had vanished for the time being, but he really didn't mind it as long as the electric blue creature that was caressing his insides with each pulse that he was given with the water kept on going like it did. His veins were in fire and it felt so, so _good_ on his lips, so moist and tingling and intoxicating. When he had felt the water's alluring smell in his nose the second time when the creature had made his lips burn with the solid object that was pressed against his needy mouth, a mug perhaps, Iruka had found himself wanting more.

Way more.

"More.." The hoarse whisper that was dropped from the glistening lips on the tanned man made Kakashi shift his a bit uncomfortable crouch as the ticklish sensation intensified briefly on his fingertips. What was happening to the young teacher?

"We'll have a break after this third one, alright? Best not to drown you if we wish to avoid Tsunade-sama's fists again." The teasing voice did make the chuunin's eyes react on some level, but the weird, tingling feeling on his hands only increased even after he had removed the mug from the teacher's mouth. He would have to look into that matter once they were finished. Once more, after the last fill, the ceramic edge found the dry lips, and Kakashi noticed that the strangely interesting sensations had reached his upper arms as well. He should call for Tsunade after the teacher had had his fill. He should also keep his eye out if anything else were to happen during the time it'll take the Hokage to come over. There were always the few things one should be ready to expect, after all.

What he didn't expect was for the surprisingly strong hands to appear on his both wrists and lock them in place. Oh hell-

The low growl erupting from the other's direction made the hair on his neck prickle as an abrupt wave of electricity surged through his chest the instant when a strong shower of pinprick-precise tremors fell over his skin. Startled enough to dislodge his hands when it was still safe for them both, the masked jounin pulled his hands and managed to stop the tanned man from drinking, which resulted a way too sinful whimper than it really should, but apparently the teacher was feeling relentless. The tan fingers tightened their hold on the now struggling pale wrists, and the jounin caught himself staring as the water that was spilled amidst their spontaneous match started to travel down the taut mass of flesh that belonged to his current captor. The moment he felt a wet, agile tongue trace the inside of his palm, a shockwave of an electric sting that could only remind him of his raikiri pierced his arm muscles and made the mug fall from his numb fingers, the piece of pottery taking the chance to roll away at a safer distance. With a stronger pull against the hold, Kakashi managed to dislodge one hand and also made the teacher to lose his blanket as the man resisted the abrupt pull by pushing the mattress with the strong legs, which honestly wasn't helping Kakashi's erratic pulse to beat any slower as more sweating flesh was revealed to his now hazy vision. What made his gaze stop to a halt and his brain cells to fry up with a white flame that took over his whole being wasn't solely the admittedly delicious view of the twisting and quivering body of his younger colleague.

It was the rapidly forming hard bulge in the man's black boxers.

Iruka was willing, by heavens he felt like an animal in heat and yet the blue deity only teased him with the chaos of arousing sensations running over his skin and curling around his gut into a hot and throbbing cocoon. He felt feverish and the world spun in his mind more than it was considered healthy, but at the same time he was more clear-headed than in a long time. He tightened his hold on the alluring creature and let out a moan of pleasure fall from his trembling, parted lips at the sudden jolts of electric ecstasy that came directly in contact with his heated skin. The sheer pleasure he felt on his tongue as he greedily mapped the glowing flesh with it was almost enough to make him come right then and there. He _wanted_. He wanted and if he had anything to say to it, he was going to take whatever it was that he wanted to have.

This was getting beyond the definition of a bad situation. The shit was hitting the metaphorical fan with more force than Kakashi managed to prevent and it was getting really hard to ignore the unmistakably willing, wanton body that struggled passionately against his steel-hard hold as he had decided on another tactic and managed just barely to keep the man within his arm's reach, his other uncontrollably shaking arm ready to knock the chuunin out if things were to go that far. The rich, heatedly murmuring baritone that was suddenly said way closer than just a second ago caught him by surprise and made his nerve endings flare up into frantic fire as the panting breath brushed against his masked neck. "..Fuck..more..!" What the-

Iruka felt his lungs burn, he was almost there, he was so close, yet the demon kept him on the edge no matter how much he tried to relieve the scorching heat in his groin and make the blue fucker to take the _fucking hint_. He gave a keen whine at the back of his throat as a sudden, stronger pulse pierced his whole system and made him arch his back in orgasmic bliss that was right there for him to ride if he could...just...reach-

What made Kakashi doubt his quickly fraying sanity was the firm grip he abruptly found taken on his dark singlet that was pulled roughly to make him topple over the lustfully panting chuunin and the forceful lips that he felt suddenly being pressed against his gaping ones.

What made him completely lose it, though, was the tan hand that had taken a hold on his free arm and suddenly offered him an impressive handful of one clearly aroused male fellow nin as he soon realized having grabbed something very much hotter and slicker than the man's pants fabric should have ever felt like. The instant he felt the moist and pulsing flesh against his calloused fingers, a violent surge of frenzied electricity that had taken a way too liquid form for his liking licked wantonly its way over every spot it could possibly reach within his struggling and helplessly trembling body. All he could do was to tense his muscles as he fought the losing battle to maintain even the thought of his vanishing control, which to his very distant dismay made him also to curl his hand around the twitching length on the frantically pushing hips.

_Yes! _Oh kami yes! As the world fell into a erratically pulsing wonderful heap of pure, blinding pleasure, Iruka could only numbly register himself sobbing in relief and crying his suffocating lungs out as his aching flesh was met with the demon's divine hand. The tan hands clawed on the body he held on desperately when the last threads of his mind exploded in white light as the devil that was holding him found the spot that made even the hardest men weep in overbearing joy, the thundering jolt of a lightning bolt erupting from the skilled fingers hitting where it really counted in this match of lust.

As his vision turned bright blue and he could hear the cry of ecstasy being screamed against his lips when a fierce pulse of lightning took over his captured hand and he felt the hot, schorching mixture of heat and pain explode within his groin and chest, Kakashi let out a shocked cry of his own, knowing to wait for the darkness yet to claim him as his mind ceased to work.

As the life's irresponsible twists had it, it never came.

With his ears ringing on the deafening silence, the jounin slowly surfaced back to reality that had been lost for him on a peculiarly bizarre road of life, gasping for breath with his burning lungs. The darkness surrounding him was drowning, and he had to fight off a rising panic by telling himself that the most dangerous creature within a hundred miles was currently only him. It felt like a led weight had settled on his chest, and as the sense of feel started to function on his skin and muscles once again, he could already anticipate to be soaked from head to toe once more, the cold, already drying water making his clothes cling on his slightly shivering skin. By the time his other senses came to their senses (apparently he still could make bad puns, so he had safely avoided the unappealing prospect of an accidental lobotomy), he became distinctly aware of a few things.

The weight on his chest wasn't actually caused by the prompt attempt of drowning himself on dry land, but from the lax, well-trained and bronze-skinned body that had, by the looks of it, passed out on him. The young man was breathing through a raspy throat and there could be seen a sliver of sated glow on the high cheekbones. The reason for that interesting finding was the second, more disturbing thing to register in his gradually sharpening mind. As he could only stare at his hand that was still holding onto the now sufficiently pleasured and thoroughly cum-coated better bits of one academy teacher, and as it seemed that it wasn't only the chuunin that had taken the fair share of the man's release, Kakashi became also grudgingly aware of one persistently pressing matter that wasn't actually so tiny nor so insignificant and definitely not merciful enough for his boxers to recover from it anytime soon.

Quietly and carefully, the hot and bothered jounin peeled the tanned teacher off of him, pulled the black boxers more properly on the narrow hips (while reminding himself to wipe the man clean instead of risking a murderous chuunin whenever the man decided to wake up again), tucked the thoroughly sweat-soaked shinobi under their both blankets and then, painstakingly slowly, hobbled towards their bathroom in order to take care of his own hard and throbbing problem. What the hell had happened between them in those few minutes when the usually very well controlled man had seemingly taken matters into his own hands was hard to grasp by Kakashi's logical mind that had taken a blow of its own, as he had thought to have gotten the hang of their pestering elements and the causing impulses they seemed to require.

For the teacher to throw himself at him over three doses of water was an exception in the rule he couldn't have seen coming even if he had been sitting on it.

With the dark clothes dropped to the floor, the now painfully horny copy-nin stepped under the lukewarm shower spray and cast a narrowed glare at the current source of his wildly running pulse. After a moment of a fairly one-sided staring match, one pale, strong arm steadied the assassin's body against the pale-colored tiles as the other, trembling hand wrapped itself around the throbbing length and a quiet hiss escaped from the jounin's gritted teeth as he slowly set the pace to match his spinning thoughts on the problematic issue he was now facing. How the things between them will remain after the teacher would wake up again and on some possibility even remember something, the now heavily panting ex-ANBU captain wasn't sure if he wanted to spend the rest of the already absurd night pondering it.

Only one thing was certain.

He was going to kill Tenzou.

QQQ

_AN: ...Bones?_


	15. Day 11

_AN: Back again, sorry for the late update, have been traveling a bit so the computer has stayed home alone for some time. Abandoned. Weeping. Devastated. Anyhow. **Mature, explicit-ish stuff is contained in this chapter**, so I advice you to use your own discretion and skip the parts that you don't like. As for how to spot the mentioned parts, well, I think you'll notice when things start to heat up. Also I hope that you guys don't get confused by the way of different events crossing paths, as it's always a challenge to write things that are happening in the same time frame. It should be all clearly pointed out when the place etc changes, but give a shout if you lost track of things at some point. Then I'll edit it some more._

_Have fun ~_

Day 11: The argumentation over sealed lips and suddenly found missing notes

The door to the bedroom slid open, and as the soft clicks of the heels followed her steps, Shizune walked slowly into the dark, closed training room. With a small yawn, the medical jounin stretched her back and heard a couple of pops coming from her spine, knowing that she'd need to take a look at those particular points based on the volume of the sound. Right now, though, she had a more important matter to focus on. Looking back in the bedroom, the dark eyes swept over the still form of the chuunin they had come to check up soon after they had received Kakashi's urgent call saying that Iruka had woken up before being knocked out again for a reason yet unknown. Although the way Kakashi had looked at the man when he had reported did make Shizune's eyebrows rise a bit.

She did know better than to pry about the seemingly timid jounin, though, and sensing that Tsunade had spotted the same was all the she needed to know on that matter.

With a small, exasperated sigh directed at the two idiots who were currently making it harder for her to keep her superior away from alcohol, the young woman turned her attention towards the shutted doors that led to the terrace, her keen instincts picking up the other two presences behind them. The first rays of light should have reached the house by now if the fatigue she felt in her muscles was anything to consider. Then, the silent heels took her back through the silent bedroom and into the corridor that led her way to the kitchen. While filling her cup of coffee for the fifth time, the woman made a mental note to check on her caffeine levels while at it.

With those last, relaxed thoughts in mind, she walked back to her sleeping patient.

Q

"...Is that so." The subtle nod was registered even though Tsunade didn't look at the jounin who was sitting on her side. The brief glance at the unreadable, gray eye that peered over the dark mask was what she needed in order to press forward. "I always hated to fight against stubborn kids, so I advice you to spill it all out before you force me to loosen up that tongue of yours starting with your jaw bones."

The shift of the tired, pale-skinned body spoke of more than just lack of sleep, and the warm mahogany eyes narrowed a fraction on that note. The Hokage could sense that her shinobi was agitated to the tiniest nerve, and she was reluctant to think that the remark of fighting might just become reality if she didn't keep herself alert. The lazy drawl gave nothing away, but she knew better than to rely on that illusion.

"Maa, you make it sound as if you cared, Hokage-sama."

A challenging rise of an eyebrow was given to that. The silence that sealed the hidden lips of the silver-haired jounin made the blonde woman give a long, pensive look at the village surrounding them, and for a moment, the S-class assassin and the legendary sannin measured the wall of hushed information and lacking reports between them. Knowing that Kakashi had more than sufficiently practiced the tricks and traps of trading information, and hoping that she could ease up some of that odd air that had enveloped one of her finest men, Tsunade decided to offer the silver-haired man a rare exception of a Hokage giving the asked intel first."...You've seen his back, Kakashi."

After a small beat of heavy silence, a slow nod was given before the gray eye gave a narrowed look at the backyard and the long, dark shadows of the fence wall crossing it. Her offer had been received and accepted, apparently. "...That I have, Hokage-sama."

"Good. Then this mission hasn't been all wasted", came the dryly chuckling response, and as Kakashi turned to look at the amber eyes he felt on him, he could see the tiny spark of amusement in the golden pools. Before he could inquire further about the odd note in his leader's words, the spark disappeared as the Hokage narrowed her eyes, hence making the ex-ANBU captain aware of his now more vulnerable position against the following interrogation as the leading medic had caught on the interested look in his gray eye. Damn that woman and her ways of knowing her shinobi. "How are you feeling at the moment?"

After a fleeting moment of consideration, Kakashi gave the healer who sat close to him a smiling, yet carefully composed look. "Maa, in higher spirits than usually, I guess." Unless one counted in the latest moments that still made his thoughts freeze, his groin twitch and chest give a dull ache as he replayed the details over and over on the perplexing occurrence, the still missing pieces making his head hurt. What the hell had happened between him and the fiery-tempered chuunin?

As his luck had it, he knew Tsunade to be well aware of the fact that something was being held from her. He should have also known what she could do with the gained knowledge. "Nothing beside giving your teammate an almost lethal heart failure by being an ass and then knocking him out once more just after being awakened by giving him the same substance which seemed to have caused the earlier collapse as well, only to give half-assed intel on the situation and treating your Hokage like an idiot on the matter, I gather? I'd say that you're on fire at the moment, Hatake."

The imaginary kunai that was sent at her head by the steel-hard gray eye could have made even Danzo cower.

A light wave of a well-manicured hand made the gathered retort trip on itself on the man's snappy tongue. "I know, I know, just asking you to humor your superior a bit here, brat. Although I'd love to hear our prim and proper sensei's reaction when he hears how he had managed to shock our finest elite out of his wits by doing something that even the great Hatake Kakashi is afraid of revealing to his highest nin in command. " A feline, almost lecherous grin spread on the woman's face when more than just a few entertaining scenarios on the spoken relationship between the two men popped into her slightly miffed mind. After being alerted from her quarters more than enough for a while and being constantly challenged with half-censored information and bratty attitude, she did feel a bit justified to test the adrenaline levels of the source of her current migraine. "You know, there's always a risk in hindering information. To me it starts to look as if the man had sexually harassed you or something akin to it."

The shade of paleness that took over the masked features did make her itch for checking the jounin's blood pressure, though. Awkwardly, Kakashi cleared his throat and cast an uncomfortable look over the high fence, his shoulders more tense and the whole body way readier to bolt than a second ago, a note that was carefully tucked away in Tsunade's mind for a later look. "I would appreciate if you kindly kept your lips sealed about this around him, Hokage-sama."

"I bet you would." The words were clearly off note with the meaning the blonde woman had put inside them, and as the intense silence crept up on them, Kakashi started to understand there to be more than just the want to tease him with the questions and suggestions. Before he could ask, Tsunade gave a small sigh and provided him with the wanted answer. "...We're not that far to distinguish anything specific, but it seems that the possibility of contamination is now ruled out. We'll continue our work with it now that the situation is stabilized here...but I can't give any promises, brat." Tsunade cast the jounin an assessing look, as if she was tempted to tell more, but her sense of ethics was voting against it. Kakashi couldn't blame her for it, though, he of all experienced squad leaders knew the danger of passing out inaccurate information and causing the panic it usually did. Nevertheless, the feeling of ice cold dread pushed itself through his barriers and tore his gut with its freezing claw. Having the Hokage address him with way more sober words than usual was always something that set his systems on the edge. Being an ANBU and one of the most feared field nins wasn't a guarantee of any kind to escape the imminent decay and death of his body, but that didn't mean he would go down without fighting with his nails and teeth until the unavoidable end. He had learned his father's last lesson to him.

As if sensing the thoughts of the ex-ANBU, Tsunade gave the pensive figure beside her an understanding, softer look before turning to face the chill dawn.

"Fear...is a complicated thing, really." Kakashi's narrow, gray eye snapped wide open at the quietly spoken words, and the jounin turned his head to look at the calmly sitting woman on his side. A sorrowful smile tilted the painted lips, and as the light in the amber eyes faded into something deeper, Kakashi knew that the woman he was watching was no longer present on the terrace, but lost in her own memories. "Some of them will hold the person back, but some will make one even more determined with their actions. Having fear is natural and sometimes even recommended...and an excellent shinobi knows that." The skilled healer's fingers fiddled the hem of the green overcoat that had become one of her most know trademarks beside the obvious physical ones, and Tsunade directed a small, passing glance at the jounin on her side before looking at the clear sky that slowly turned into deep blue hue as the morning passed by towards noon.

The sliding doors to the terrace opened and Shizune peeked out from the created gap, clearly giving Tsunade the sign for them to leave for now. With a curt nod at her assistant, Tsunade directed her words at the former Hound. "Lay low for today, Kakashi. Yesterday was bad for you as well, from what I can tell considering the strain in your body. You should get some sleep and then do some light exercise, but not more than just keeping your muscles warm and accustomed to the training. Maybe even eat a bit more than usually." With a tiny sigh, the older woman stood up and gave the silver-haired assassin one last glance before she walked to her assistant on her clicking heels, her voice having gained back its usual strict tone, more for herself than Kakashi, that the jounin couldn't tell. "I trust you to execute your orders with professional attitude, shinobi."

A tiny, dryly amused smile crept on the hidden lips. It appeared that Tsunade knew the right words to keep him under control. "Understood, Hokage-sama", Kakashi said quietly and pulled himself into a crouching position in order to stand up as well in order to escort the women out.

The sudden wall of ice cold water that hit his face and body made him stumble both in his steps as with his intentions.

The pregnant silence waddled away as it came into second thoughts on approaching the now very still and wide-eyed jounin who stared long and hard at the leader of his village, especially the hefty and now empty porcelain jug she held in her hand. The last droplets of icy water dripped from it on the wooden boards in a same rhythm as their kin that dropped from the darkly clothed man, the echoing tips and taps being the only sounds between the three persons standing in the shy sunlight that wasn't so sure anymore if it had been safe to descend on the light gray house that had earlier looked so nice and inviting.

"My, and here I had a bet that he'd react to that", Tsunade clicked her tongue and sighed with light mock in her voice, the clearly visible amusement pulling the corners of her red lips as she passed the porcelain dish back to mutely gawking Shizune. "Sadly, no. Just getting lost in the road of life again, apparently." And with that, not paying any attention to the two set of eyes that were staring at her in open bewilderment, the Hokage turned on her heels and walked into the dimly lit bedroom. On her passing way through the room, the amber eyes gave a fleeting, comforting look at the resting, cinnamon-skinned teacher that laid sprawled on the mattress, the usually very active and bright man seemingly comatose and still as the dead. Regrettably, she wasn't designated as the fifth Hokage for sympathizing Konoha's shinobis, and the eyes of the leading healer took back their accustomed hardness as the pigtailed woman snapped her command at her aide. "Come along now, Shizune, we have a village to pull through the day."

The eyes of the dark-haired woman snapped back into present on the stern words and soon enough Kakashi found himself holding a white porcelain jug in his hands and staring at an empty house after the front door's lock had clicked into place. The gradually warming sun caressed his back and made the slightly wet singlet become damp and clingy against his skin, which was the initial factor to pull the puzzled jounin back to the present. After two rather slow seconds, the mismatched eyes gave a blink.

Why exactly was he wet again?

As the reason for the rather unconventional morning muddled his mind, Kakashi found his legs carry him standing next to the sleeping man. Silently, the jounin observed the subtle rise and fall of the dark-skinned chest, and his ears were filled with the raspy sounds from the man's throat as the shallow breaths flowed past the lightly parted full lips. Before he knew it, though, the silver-haired man soon realized his eye having settled on looking keenly on one particular spot on the chuunin's upper body. More accurately one specific spot on the man's neck.

The discovery made Kakashi stop sorting through his scattered thoughts and made it all form into a more simple solution he knew he should act upon at that moment.

He really needed his coffee.

Q

_...67...68...69...no, no dirty thoughts now...70..._

Drops of sweat fell on the matted floor and the training room's walls resounded with small grunts and hisses as trembling, pale arms pushed a well-built body up from the floor in rhythmical intervals.

_..75..._

Kakashi gave a tiny gasp as his left shoulder gave a twinge of pain. Nevertheless, he pushed himself up on his arms which were already weeping under the weight of his body, the jounin ignoring the discomfort and continuing the task. As always.

_..76..._

His thighs twitched and trembled as they struggled to hold straight, and his toes were clearly against his idea of fun about being pressed against the floor while doing the push-ups. He would have a nice chat with his ungrateful body the moment he had regained his full chakra reserves back. They would have a hoot.

_..77..._

_Almost..there..78...79..._

The hidden lips twisted into a snarl and Kakashi could feel the strength leave his shaking arms, but even if it would kill him, he had to pull the finishing move all the same. Gai would never let him hear the end of it if the man ever found out that not only wasn't he able to pull through more than only half of the amount in push-ups when compared to their usual muscle training but also skipped the last move due to some minor and petty reason such as severe muscle cramps. Feeling his whole body tense up and his tendons letting out a very pained whine concerning his following move, Kakashi once more relied on his training of withstanding pain when needed and, with an effort that made him briefly wonder if he was indeed getting too old for this shit, pushed his lower body up to stretch vertically above the sweating torso, his jerking calves setting themselves straight and giving space for the following thighs and knees while his toes wiggled towards the ceiling. A foul curse escaped the jounin's masked mouth as he agonizingly slowly pushed and maneuvered his body to stand on his outstretched hands, pale fingers digging into the woven mat that was already soaked with sweat. The falling, cooling drops that traveled over his face were making it harder to see and breath through the dark fabric that was still covering both his nose and mouth as they wiggled their way between his frowning eyebrows down to the tip of his wrinkling nose and seeped into the fabric while some of them took a detour across his eyes and cheeks and were unnervingly uncooperative for letting go of his eyelashes. Tilting the face upside down for a moment after regaining the feeble balance was clearly not the sharpest idea in the shinobi codex, as the almost soaked mask fabric suddenly released its excessive water down his shocked nostrils and the moisture on his lashes slipped underneath his eyelids.

Who said it was wise to train with a mask?

The passing mental whine made the ex-ANBU chuckle darkly and thus he almost sneezed when yet another assault of water drops hit his nose. Quickly, the spluttering man turned his face down to meet the floor in order to prevent from soiling his mask with something very different than skinpore-produced body fluids, and amidst his rising black humor for the whole situation, the gray eye turned steel-hard on a small, passing thought that flipped off at one of his nerves on its way out.

Apparently the same idiot who had severely underestimated his opponent in their game.

Once having his complaining body finally settled straight up in the air, the jounin started his descending to the floor. He could feel his legs sway dangerously to all sides as he continuously sought out his balance point, and let out a heavy heave as his nose finally touched the rough mat underneath him. Sadly, that was only half of it. A mixture of disbelieving laughter and aggravated cursing left the man's mouth as he painstakingly slowly started to straighten his arms once more, feeling his triceps scream in agony at the irrational manoeuvre he was clearly pulling just to piss his muscles off-

-just like he did with the sensei in the other room.

The passing thought made his gut feel as if it had been hit by a heavy punch, and the lips behind the dark mask pulled themselves back to reveal the gritting teeth behind them. An aggressive growl echoed in the training room as Kakashi with a final, desperate push heaved himself standing on straight arms and forced his mouth to form the last, final number he was currently all too willing to annihilate from their numeral system.

"..Eighty."

As his muscles took the permission to collapse under him, the infamous assassin fluidly rolled from his arms on his back and laid down on the woven mats, the man breathing deep and slow for a few minutes as he set his pulse down on a calmer level. The dark eye opened to observe the ceiling above his panting figure, and a pale hand rose to peel off the dark, damp fabric from the exhausted man's face. A trickle of sweat tickled the thin lips, and the fingers that trembled from the over-exertion slowly chased the drops away from the soft skin. The tingling moistness remained on the usually hidden mouth, though, and as his skin started to cool off after the straining exercise, Kakashi could feel his whole body being covered in a distinct layer of dampness that was merrily seeping into his clothes. A tentative tongue ran over the salty aftertaste on his upper lip, and with a quiet inhale, the lithe body rolled on its side while the gray, sharp eye cast a long look at the dim bedroom just dozen feet away.

The alarm began its beeping, and as he willed the blasted machine to die away and leave him be for now with no luck for the wish getting granted, the jounin picked himself up from the floor and promptly whacked the beeping nuisance silent before ambling towards the kitchen.

Q

Tsunade gave a tired sigh and felt the cool surface of the table press against her forehead as she laid her head down for a brief break. Somewhere in the background she could sense Shizune roll her eyes, the younger woman being surprisingly quiet after they had returned into the Hokage Tower and had continued their work with the odd sample, a task which was proving to take longer than she would have liked it.

The sake bottle she held in her hand was just for stimulating her vigorously thinking mind, of course.

The pensive eyes fell shut for a while and a more pronounced sigh left the painted lips. Those two troublemakers were really giving their all to make this mission memorable. It also seemed that the notion applied on more levels than one as well, and the blonde woman tilted her head up to rest her chin on the hard wood, a thoughtful frown pressing the light eyebrows down on the youthful face. Before the present mission the two men had been worlds apart for what it came to their personal histories, but she could bet all her sake for that to be one of the reasons they still put up with each other. But, as her latest discussion with the arrogant blockhead had it, she had begun to sense there to be more to it than mere professional curiosity when the two shinobis were considered.

The dark look in the gray eye had carried something else than just concern in it, just like the brown eyes had when the Hatake brat had given them all a heart-attack for the first time.

The hypothesis of the ANBU's part in the whole mess had still remained as an odd question, to which she hoped to get an answer rather sooner than with yet another close call from death. For now, though, it seemed to be the best to let the men set the pace of sharing their information, as irritating as it was for her to be the last to know about the things happening during the mission. At least they had all learned many new things that had been immediately put under further inspection, so technically she couldn't complain. That didn't mean she would decrease the number of empty bottles on her study's floor anytime soon, though.

"Tsunade-sama."

The alarming undertone in her loyal assistant's voice was enough to make the hold on the bottle tighten for just a fleeting second.

It had been only a matter of when, hadn't it.

Q

A mane of silver hair thunked against the kitchen cupboard and a pitiful groan escaped the masked lips.

The gray eye stared irritatedly at the almost empty coffee tin, and the lonely, almost apologetic chugs of one tiny coffee maker filled the desperate void of sounds that had taken over the sunny kitchen. Then the narrow eye shifted to look to the side of the currently hurting silver-haired head, and as the perceptive orb traced over the still splintered other cupboard door which didn't currently have an infamous jounin hitting his head against it, the deadly fingers tightened their hold on the unfortunate metal box.

By the time the wandering eye reached the wooden tea box that sat on the counter with a thin layer of dust on it, the silence had slowly snuck out of the back door.

Q

A quiet huff left the painted lips as the amber eyes turned away from the riddle before them, and Shizune knew her leader well enough to wait patiently for the following order. Even Ton Ton was attentive and seemed to sense the twirling thoughts of her friends as the tiny piglet stood by the women and looked back and forth between their unreadable faces.

The voice that carried the order was sharp and left nothing to argue about. "Run the tests once more."

Q

The daylight passed over the vast sky towards the evening, the rays gaining orange glow with passing minutes and the retreating light lengthening the shadows throughout the bustling village. As it crossed paths with an other shade of orange on its way, the shy rays blushed and scurried over the well-worn pages that had seen both peaceful nights and bloody battles, the words written on them bringing solace to many masked soldiers and comfort for the lonely minds while the lush illustrations made the pulse or a warrior beat a bit faster and providing the guarded souls the craved act of letting go of themselves just for a brief moment.

Softly, a pale finger traveled on one of those described pages, the deft digit tracing the forms of letters printed in coherent order while the unseeing eye stared at the paths it created on the off-white sheet.

Abruptly, the book covers were snapped closed and a lithe, strong body stood up from the wooden floor. Silently, a pair of legs made their way into a dark, ascetic room and to the small alarm leaning against one of its walls. Gently, the orange travel-sized volume was put down next to the alarm which was taken in the nimble hands and set for twenty minutes. For a beat, the subtle tick of its clock-precise mechanism filled the heavy air between it and the one holding it before it was put back to its place next to the abandoned book.

Without a sound, the silver-haired man, one of the most feared assassins of his time, the man of thousand jutsus and the Konoha's leading former ANBU captain (after one specific Uchiha) turned on the balls of his feet and slowly, ever so slowly slid his legs on the matted floor in patterns so familiar to him. Patterns he knew by heart and mind ever since he had been welcomed in his ranks. The right leg stopped and the left leg was fluidly lifted in a high spin kick once, twice, thrice, the pale-skinned body shifting its angles based on the body parts the shinobi yielding the deadly limbs wanted to damage and destroy. The strong arms were pulled close to the gradually warming body, the tightly curled fists ready to lash out whenever given permission to by the mind commanding the synapses that were connected to the working muscle tissues.

Sharply, the fists flew through the air, the gusts of air whooshing around the swiftly moving hands that wove their ways by swinging, jabbing, piercing and cutting, thus rendering their thought targets immobile. The movement of the jounin's upper body picked up the speed and slowly matching the shapely legs that turned, twisted, kicked, slid and crushed with their heels, calves and shins, and the mismatched eyes were closed as the physical dimension of the moving man narrowed into one and only being of Hatake Kakashi, the Konoha's infamous lightning user. A tiny, crooked smile tilted the masked lips.

No longer the one under the name Hound. The Third had known what he was doing.

Stretching out with his senses, the jounin could feel the rough fibers of the mats under his bare feet, felt the cool air caress his rapidly attacking hands and legs, could count each of his muscles working for him on each taught and copied move he was sure to remember until his death, whether he wished it or not. His life had been a harsh teacher, after all, and as all other nins, he knew that their strict teacher would eventually devour them all, just like the generations before them.

He could also bet that they didn't get any grades while being taken away from their reality, unless the gods of a shinobi took after one peculiar chuunin teacher and the man's obsession for red markers. Although, if they would, Kakashi was fairly sure his wouldn't be anything to brag about if the dark-skinned office dictator had anything to say to it. A chuckle escaped the lightly panting mouth, and the mismatched eyes turned into smiling crescents on the thought idea.

He would be undoubtedly scolded before being sent for some after-school lessons to polish up some of his marks.

The broad back rolled forward as Kakashi delivered a heavy blow against the empty room with both of his hands, the pale fists slamming sharply into nothing. He could count the beats of his heart that still, after so many years of serving his village, felt up for keeping him breathing and functioning. As his body shifted into yet another offensive posture in a low crouch with his fists held tightly against his sides, the Sharingan user didn't pay any longer attention at the almost automatic moves his body performed, but on the inner peace that slowly fell upon his mostly never resting mind.

Whoever thought that meditating should only consist of sitting still and breathing in dull monotonous rhythm hadn't clearly visited a hidden village.

Inhaling deeply, Kakashi let go of the last threads of lonely thoughts in his mind and let his bodily reality take over his inner world. One beat after another, the genius mind slipped into soothing blankness the further he reached inside himself, the more his lungs started to pull in deeper breaths and worked together with his diaphragm, the faster his feet and fists reacted to the tiniest stimulus given by the silence, his location in the room, even the changes of light itself. While dropping down to deliver a low, cutting kick and then spinning back up on his heels before performing the combo of six cuts and two high kicks, the jounin felt his mind still completely and his being becoming whole once again.

Now there was only him.

_"__You're a jounin and an ex-ANBU, Kakashi-san, and I expect you to act as your rank dictates. Nothing more, and certainly nothing less." _

Bad timing for a flashback, really. The silver brows furrowed on the persistent thought that repeated itself in his mind and resisted to be pushed aside for now. To his unpleasant surprise, once one had managed to push through and had found out that the playground was currently deserted from other meddling thoughts, it didn't take long for others to join it.

_"...It was only Iruka-sensei who got the reaction."_

His mind was apparently running out of material for it to put such old thoughts into repeat. A horizontally cutting kick spun the assassin's body around on its heel, but as the body worked for its leisure, the mind worked suddenly for a very different goal. The dark gray, narrow eye peered open when the jounin's previously acquired meditative trance vanished in a couple of beats as the gears in his head turned forward against his will. Something was picking his mind, something he had missed earlier...something that made his insides stir and blood rush a bit faster through his veins as the genius mind mulled over the given options and questions on the matter the jounin seemed to face head on now that he had once created an opening for them.

The jounin's legs traveled above him when he rolled on his back as the low windmill kick swung at the immaterial opponents within a wide range-

"_Then you shouldn't have let me to get into your close range, sensei."_

As he straightened himself back up and punctured the air with sharp blows, the gray eye wasn't any longer focused on the things happening around it nor was it clouded from the absence of his mind as the eccentric jounin took a look inside his head. The securely locked mental archives were suddenly pulled wide open and different memory fragments flooded all over the neatly organized shelves the deeper he examined his common past with the team seven's former teacher.

Their collegial camaraderie had been the focus of many rumors for a while in the village ever since they had acknowledged each other on a firmer ground after the chuunin exams and had soon developed a unique way of communicating by combining both verbal and physical jabs with their normal vocabulary. A passing chortle left the masked mouth when Kakashi remembered how happy he had been to see the chuunin welcome him back from his mission by giving him a finger with a bright blush adorning the high cheekbones before the ex-ANBU had found himself dodging flying pens that were thrown in pairs with a speed which shouldn't have been even possible for projectiles consisting of mere wood and lead, the spontaneous attack being later labeled as the Pen Penalty n:o 32. Then again, the joke about securing the borders for Iruka's ass to feel safer again might have had something to do with that rather sizzling welcoming. It didn't take long for others to understand the explosive nature of their social encounters, not to mention the needed safety measures whenever they crossed their paths. When they met privately for training, though, they could discuss deeply over various topics, even joke around in different manner than in public, albeit the jounin also knew for a fact that the lightly bickering undertone they always seemed to have in their conversations would follow them to their graves.

_"...Saa, you're demanding a straight answer from a shinobi? Is this something you picked up along the way when adventuring in the road of life?"_

It also went for the hidden tones they both seemed determined to include in their shared thoughts. Then again, they were both trained to know that one shouldn't share the information that would most likely have them end up dead, so on the professional level he had nothing against it.

_"...Well, for one, I'm fairly sure that there are smoother ways to seduce a person..." _

A pale hand slowed its way through the air for a blink before the jounin's whole body picked up the earlier pace for his blows.

The personal level, on the other hand, was a completely different matter.

_"If I had known the way you treat your body and mind I would have refused to work as your partner on this mission, jounin-san." _

Paradoxically, one of the most mysterious jounins didn't like it when information was kept from him, moreover the lacking intel being rubbed in his face and it followed by a swamp of riddles to boot. He had meant the lecturing words he had told the infuriating bugger the other morning, and he could easily count the missions that had went very efficiently downhill because of the hindered information between the team members.

_"And how does that give you the impression that I'm not afraid of you?"_

They weren't sent to the front lines with the ongoing mission, granted, and everyone within their ranks were holding a thing or five from the others on regular basis, but the situation tended to change if two reserved individuals were to suddenly interact between one another for an extended period of time, moreover with an order to look after one another. Things were bound to start revolving around a few delicate subjects, intentional or not.

_"Are you, by any chance, taken yet..Umino-san..?" _

The meddling behavior from a third, uninvited party wasn't exactly helping either.

_"This mission doesn't ____need__ your personal dilemmas to twist the results, Tsunade-sama doesn't ____need__ our disputes to wreck her precious work and as long as there's even an ounce of strength in my muscles and a capable tongue in my mouth I don't ____need__ to tolerate this fucking immature shit from you, superior or not. You're endangering our assignment only because you can't handle it when you're denied from something you want and you're forced to make an effort on the things you need."_

Suddenly his nose gave a tiny twitch on the lingering sensation it had caught on amidst his vigilant brainstorming, and the jounin's mind reeled to an abrupt halt as it pecked down the odd note that had been causing havoc in his books for a good while now.

_"- - the things you need."_

It was the same damn odor that had made him lose it the previous times, the smell that had made him fight down the strange, sudden urges to reach for the younger man and make the brown-haired loudmouth scream for a whole another reason than general misbehavior. The scent that had been circling around them ever since he had woken up with the damp spot on his shirt's chest and what had gradually made it increasingly hard to refrain himself around the younger man.

The scent that had been the final push for him to jump over the edge of his self-control during the last night.

_"- - need."_

The deadly fist stopped in mid-blow while the gray eye fixed its stare at the dark wall before it, and all that could be heard in the dark and scarcely furnished space was a deeply breathing jounin whose thoughts were now running two hundred miles per minute.

By the time the alarm went off, the loud buzz was registered too late for him to react._  
_  
Q

The room was silent, and only the quiet tick of a distant clock was heard between the room's silent occupants.

On the wooden table, a clipboard with four orderly spread sheets of paper laid between two women. The amber eyes stared at the figures that were written carefully on the slots of the diagrams, the explanations and footnotes littering the blank spaces between the numbers and lines, them creating a web of information that could only be understood by the ones specialized in reading it.

Q

Quickly, a pair of sliding doors were pulled open as a half-naked jounin scrambled in with fast, stiff and long steps while at the same time the pale hands did their best to relieve the muscular body from the black slacks in the same swift way they had already dealt with the sweaty singlet. The shapely legs stumbled and slipped on the tiled floor as the heavily panting silver-haired man twisted the shower's faucets with trembling hands before they were slammed against the tiled wall and the silver-haired head dove under the chill water that descended on his heated skin, the already soaking remnants of the training gear being harshly kicked to the farthest corner of the bathroom the moment they had pooled around the man's ankles.

Unfortunately, the idea of a cold shower turned out to be the worst solution for his currently forming condition, and Kakashi had to muffle the arising loud groan against his upper arm as his skin turned feverish under the assault of pleasurable liquid needles that hit his body and made the once hesitant erection double both its length and hardness in seconds. The revealed rows of teeth were gritted tightly together and Kakashi could feel his jaw nerves wail under the painful strain, but as the gray eye glared hard at the present problem the jounin was facing, and seeing that there was little hope for him to escape the dilemma as yet another, stonger wave of dizzying desire pinched all over his body, the last coherent thoughts vanished into thin air as the man was hit on the head with the memories of what was last night.

The strong hands digging into his flesh through the fabric, the keen sounds of pleasure falling from the full lips that devoured his hidden ones, the feel of strong hips pushing upwards against his-

_"..Fuck..more..!"_

The scorching, rapidly advancing heat ravished his nether regions the moment when his pale hand took a hold of his already leaking flesh while his nose was once more drowned in the intoxicating smell, and he arched his back on sheer over-stimulus raking up and down his spine. In his wildly whirling mind, Kakashi knew what to expect and embraced himself as the final, missing piece of the puzzle fell to its place in his chaotic memory, the name all too familiar to him vibrating suddenly throughout his quivering body and thus pushing his hand to jerk sharply on each syllable that had been screamed against his lips by the richly rumbling baritone.

Q

After the ticking minutes had turned into half an hour, a small gleam passed the amber eyes, and Shizune could sense the shift of ambiance in the study room even before her leader had uttered a single word on the matter.

"Shizune." The calm voice gave nothing away, but the younger jounin knew not to fall for that.

"Yes, Tsunade-sama?"

"Bring me the seal book."

Q

The pale fist cracked an innocent walltile in half as the first course of electricity ran through the colorfully cursing man's body. The mutinous body saw its chance then and the hissing man almost bit through his bottom lip as the first, violent climax took what was its to have and made the jounin grit his teeth roughly together in order not to howl in sweet abandon_._

_"Kakashi!"_

Bronze-skinned and attractive man with a horizontal scar running across his nose flashed before the hazy mismatched eyes in an unashamed mixture of blurry memories and lewd fantasies that could have made even Icha Icha look like a children's picture book, the deep brown, lust-filled eyes tearing a fiery hole into his burning gut and the ghosts of the heated whispers, moans, whimpers and groans kicking his whole system into overdrive when his hand picked up speed and the loud schreech of his raikiri surged through the air with the pulse of a lightning bolt that caressed his throbbing cock all the way from the base to the very tip in a storm of blinding pleasure.

_"Kakashi!"_

Oh how he could taste the man, hear the screams which left his ears ringing, see the willing and _oh-so-fuckable_ body offer itself to him, feel the heat, feel the slick, hard, pulsing flesh in his hands, _feel the tight, hot walls squeeze around him as he would pound mercilessly in and out of the delicious, firm, round-"Ah! Ahh! AH! H-Harder, harder, please- KA-AAH-KASHI!"_

It was getting increasingly hard to breathe properly, his whole body shook from the inside and the trembling arm and legs worked overtime in their attempt to keep the heavily breathing and moaning man still upright and leaning against the wet wall amidst his pleasure as he rolled his hips frantically forward into his squeezing palm. The jounin's vision resigned itself from functioning properly and exploded into bright electric blue fireworks, making him miss the animalistic, keen shout that tore out of his own throat.

By the time the fifth release made his blindly staring eyes cross Kakashi had already forgotten why he had learned to count in the first place.

Q

As Shizune nodded and left the desk for a short moment to retrieve the requested item, she couldn't help but feel a small chill of dread settle in her gut as she caught a glimpse of the suspiciously smug look in her superior's eyes.

Q

Numbly, as the final tremors of the last, painfully fantastic orgasm died away, the pale jounin slumped flush against the cool tiles, and after a couple of weak beats, the shaking hands reached over and turned off the freezing shower.

Quietly, as the sounds of dripping water drops were registered in his almost deaf ears, the ex-ANBU counted his deep gulps of breath and the beats of his erratic pulse while his head refused to acknowledge its existence for the moment. The room was no longer in the same gravity field where he seemed to be, and the gray eye started to hurt dully as it tried to focus on the blurry surroundings that felt more than inclined on dodging his eyesight every time he thought he had gotten the hang of it.

The pale knuckles lost all of their color as the skilled killer's hands curled into tight grip on the smooth metal surface.

Q

The moment she sensed her aide having left the room, Tsunade gave the test results in front of her one last look before reclining in her chair and crossing her arms resting on her chest. The woman's eyes sought out one particular note that was highlighted among the others, and the fair-haired medic felt her painted lips pull themselves into a wry, cunning smile.

It seemed that the life in the light gray house would soon take a turn in a direction which hopefully didn't leave her with two dead bodies in its wake.

Q

Silently, a pair of freshly washed legs stepped over the threshold, leaving a trace of minuscule water puddles on the floor boards as the pale, half-naked body slunk in to the shared, small bedroom and stopped to stand near the room's other occupant.

Then, smoothly due to the years of training, the towel-covered body crouched down next to the tan sleeper who hadn't shown any signs of waking up during the whole day. The sharp gray and red eye observed when the full lips parted with a light exhale and the dark eyebrows furrowed ever so briefly before they smoothed again on the tan forehead, the chuunin's facial expressions dissolving away into the healing sleep that Shizune had cast upon the academy teacher.

As the older nin painstakingly slowly stood up on his hurting legs and made his uncharacteristically unstable way to his own bed, the gray eye gave the slumbering younger man a short look before closing up for the night when the jounin pulled the covers over himself after having dressed up in his mask and pajama pants. While the exhausted and still hazy-minded genius concentrated on the serene sounds of the night rain against the ceiling and willed his restless mind to take a break for now, the well-trained ears of the elite nin didn't catch the subtle pop that was heard beneath a hefty pile of clean yet unsorted laundry, the black, tiny notebook seemingly forgotten due to the other things that had demanded their attention for the past few days.

Nor did he sense the sharp look he was given by a pair of dark brown eyes.

QQQ

_AN: Day 12 is on its way. Bones?_


End file.
